Railways to deploy drones for real-time check on uneven freight loading in pilot project

In a major push toward safer freight operations, the Railway Ministry has launched a pilot project to use drones for monitoring uneven loading in freight trains. Three key railway zones—South Eastern Railway (SER), South East Central Railway (SECR), and South Western Railway (SWR)—have been directed to contract drones for real-time surveillance at high-traffic terminals prone to load imbalance.

Uneven loading has been identified as a major contributor to freight train derailments. The pilot aims to assess how drone-based monitoring can prevent such incidents by offering real-time aerial imaging and automated visual analytics to detect unsafe load patterns before dispatch.

The scope includes hiring certified drone operators, real-time transmission of video feeds and images, pre-dispatch scanning of wagons, and submission of data logs and exception reports. The ministry emphasized selecting terminals with high incident rates for the three-month pilot.

The outcome will determine if the model is scalable across the country. Zonal railways are expected to submit detailed evaluation reports post-pilot to assess feasibility and effectiveness for pan-India rollout.