South Western Railway (SWR) and Network Rail Wessex (NR Wessex) in the UK have deployed a remotely operated drone above London Waterloo station. The drone is being used to deter and tackle trespass, improve safety and reduce disruption.
The drone is operated remotely by SkyBound from a control centre almost 80 miles away in Woolston, in the Southampton area. When required, operators launch the drone from its trackside station to provide rapid intelligence for SWR and NR Wessex’s control centre, security and engineering teams. Live footage streamed directly to the network’s operations centre in Basingstoke.
The drone at Waterloo is the first of a planned chain of SkyBound drones to help protect the busiest section of the SWR and NR Wessex network, with further drones to be based at Clapham Junction, New Malden and Walton-on-Thames.
To be authorised for use at London Waterloo, the fully-licensed drone has passed safety checks, only operates within set railway boundaries and adheres to strict privacy standards.
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