Austrian high-tech company Frequentis and Austrian state railway ÖBB have started a partnership to investigate the use of drones for track inspections. The partnership will enable research to be carried out into hangar-based drone operations in Austria, which will be used to detect damage to railway infrastructure and other potential hazards. The drones can also be used to assess emergency situations, monitor shunting operations and check line availability. The partners will assess the technically complex challenges and restrictions of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights and the impact on such operations of official regulations, weather conditions and topography. Once official approval has been obtained for trial drone flights to be conducted from ÖBB’s operations centre over an initial 12-month period, flights will be carried out to inspect lines on a weekly basis. ÖBB hopes that this will enable it to continuously improve operations, while Frequentis expects to gain valuable insights to guide future improvements in drone technology.
