1000000 · NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Jun 2021)

Provision of Services to maximise access and keep boots off ballast - We are looking at what drone technology could be used to maximise the access currently available and keep staff off the railway infrastructure.

To develop drone technology to help remove the need for:

• Vegetation surveys
• Scrap surveys
• Fencing condition surveys
• Monitoring of unstable earthworks
• Prep4Safety inspections (in conjunction with train-borne inspection data)
• Scoping / Specification surveys (in conjunction with train-borne inspection data)
• Detection of Buckles – software assisted flagging of track misalignments
• Remote Rail Temperature monitoring via thermal imaging
• Snagging / Defect identification (in conjunction with train-borne inspection data)
• Detection of buried catchpits and outfalls via thermal imaging (the former is perhaps best confined to the cold season, where the temperature differential is more obvious)
• Confirm function of points heating / POE heating via thermal imaging (PIAF benefits?)
• Detect Presence of poor electrical connections (PIAF benefits?)
• Dilapidation survey and TOC walkouts
• Contractor preparation surveys
• Maintenance visual inspections (undertaken by patrollers, TSMs and TMEs)
• Verification of asset data (Rail / Ballast / Sleeper volumes and locations) prior to entry into INM
• Assist validation of correlation diagrams
• Red zone working,
• CRT monitoring
• S&C inspection,
• Points heating