Ahmedabad: For the first time, the Ahmedabad Division of Western Railway carried out an aerial inspection using drone technology to inspect overhead equipment (OHE) on railway tracks. This initiative will detect subtle as well as serious defects in railway tracks and OHE without affecting train operations, thereby increasing the chances of avoiding potential accidents.

The Ahmedabad Division conducted a pilot inspection of overhead equipment through drones on June 8. For this, a drone equipped with a high-resolution camera and geo-tagging system was used.

During the drone survey, several defects like flash marks on insulators, foreign material stuck on cantilevers, bird nests on portal structures, birds perched on OHE equipment, and damage to catenary strands were found. Such defects are usually difficult to detect from the ground or during routine inspections.

The images captured by the drone will be tagged with GPS locations, based on which the exact location of the fault, its severity, and the priority of the required repairs can be determined. This process will help in significantly reducing the impact of OHE tripping, power supply disruption, and train operation disruptions in the future.

Currently, track blocks have to be taken for OHE inspection, and technical personnel have to go close to the 25 KV high-voltage system and inspect it. The use of drone technology will reduce this risk. Now, without taking track blocks, inspection can be done remotely, which will not affect train operations and will also increase the safety of the personnel.

Till now, repairs were mostly done after faults occurred, but now faults can be identified at an early stage. The data obtained from the drone inspection is being compiled. In the next phase, this data will be used for AI-based analysis. In the future, this technology will be implemented across Western Railway. DeshGujarat