Network Rail has contracted four unmanned air vehicle services providers to deliver three years of aerial infrastructure surveillance for the UK’s railways.
AM-UAS, CyberHawk, Resource Group, and Richard Allitt Associates’ Remote Aerial Surveys have all been awarded contracts to deliver the services under a Network Rail national framework agreement.
Network Rail, which owns most of the rail infrastructure in the UK, will use data from the UAVs in order to increase inspection efficiencies and reduce the risks posed to personnel operating at heights or in busy environments.
According to an EU tender notification, five companies bid for the four contracts and in November each winning bidder was awarded an initial £500,000.
Resource Group
Resource Group previously provided imagery to Network Rail following a landslip in 2013 at Hatfield Colliery in South Yorkshire, when the company’s services team flew UAVs over the site to provide pictures of tracks that had twisted.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
