Agra: The North Central Railway (NCR) is planning to use drones for enhanced safety in train operations, better crowd management and in order to better maintain its assets. Currently, NCR uses drones on a trial basis for the maintenance of its railway bridges.In a recent meeting chaired by general manager of NCR, M C Chauhan, and experts in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), it was decided that the potential of UAVs in making the train journey of an average passenger be explored.NCR public relation officer, Amit Malviya, said, “During discussions at the meeting, it emerged that there were a number of UAV platforms available for application from a range as low as 3 km, with an endurance of 15 minutes and range as high as 50km and endurance up to 6 hours. The UAVs can be said to be ‘intelligent’, as they come fitted with an autopilot, a gyroscope and have the ability to self-navigate home and land using Global Positioning System (GPS). Hence, UAVs offer several potential benefits for the Railways.”He added, “With drones, we can have access to real-time aerial view of assets like tracks, signals and overhead high-tension cables. We will also be able to detect any mischief or obstruction on the track and instantly relay the information to the control room via wireless transmission. Drones would have the ability to be operational day and night and would be immensely useful for crowd management as they would provide a bird’s eye view of the situation on ground, which will allow the ground staff to identify the areas that need attention and devise strategies accordingly.”Chauhan said, “We have already begun the use of drones on a trial basis for the maintenance of our bridges. Now we are seriously considering the use of high-endurance, long-range UAVs for better monitoring of assets, maintenance, crowd management and enhanced safety in train operations.”

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