Hey Guys & Girls, I have a commercial drone inspection to do in the next month and need to fly closer than 50m to (exposed / above ground) London Underground railway tracks. I am aware that to fly above ‘Network Rail’ landline tracks the flight details / a risk assessment need to be logged on DroneCloud, but does anyone know if flying within 50m of London Underground Tracks can be done by logging details similarly on DroneCloud or do TfL hold authority for underground tracks and require a different or additional system of approval? Many thanks
Did Network Rail tell you that? 
They don’t hold any authority over the airspace in the UK.
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My assumption has always been Network Rail simply used language in their guidance to imply this was a special piece of legislation for railways rather than just piggy-backing on the old 50 metre rule as it applied to all structures in the days of PfCOs.
Been long enough since the rules changed, you’d think they’d have updated their guidance by now.
There’s something mentioned here about it…
Hi PingSpike - Yes indeed, Network Rail did directly instruct me that I must log the details on Dronecloud.
Whats Dronecloud 
never heard of it
Really? What legislation are Network Rail pulling that one from. 
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It’s from the National Trust book of airspace wishes 
With a scattering of the canals trust
And a light garnish from the Port of London Authority.
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And a few councils toilet paper
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Thanks all, I appreciate your speedy replies / thoughts. Looks like I’ll just do my usual risk assessment and Non Standard Flight Application (it’s in EGR157 Hyde Park Flight Restriction Zone) and Network Rail can sing for anything beyond that - ta!
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It’s a web based App which Network Rail use for coordinating drone flights over their property. It’s not very user friendly!
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Do you have to part with cash to use it
Ahh ya never told us you were in a FRZ. That changes everything, You’ll now have to contact NATS and probably Rishi Sunak to even get permission to walk through that area with a drone in your rucksack. If not, you’ll immediately be surrounded by armed MET officers who always shoot first and ask questions later 
how big is the drone?
I’m not sure I’m likely to see
Drone = 1, rail track, train or rail infrastructure = 0
are we missing the point here of RISK
which I believe should be the assessment of HARM or IMPACT vs PROBABLY or LIKELIHOOD
everything I’ve ever seen associated with railways is built very robust to prevent damage from wear and tear and or vandalism and tampering.
sure if you crash or loose a drone on a railway line you are going to struggle to recover it as it may end up with trespass if you recover it without permission, which i’m fairly certain they have a statutory law (or bylaw) they can and do prosecute against. … but that’s why you take out insurance to cover loss and failure, and also the damage it may cause
Unless things have changed recently, no. I’ve used it on two previous occasions and no payment was required.
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I’ve carried out several jobs in EGR157 over the years and applied for a NSFA and (in my own experience) NATS have always been pretty good at getting back to me within timescales / granting consent - hopefully same again this time round
Hi @robertspark , yes the obvious detail I should have originally mentioned but I expect most have assumed. It’s a Mini 3 Pro, so sub 250g. Without exception I always carry out a full risk assessment and de-risk the flight as much as is reasonably possible, but I get your point about the infrastructure being robust. I think the probability is that a Mini 3 Pro would either just bounce off of a train or if it accidentally landed on the tracks it would be unlikely to cause any damage to infrastructure, but of course it would be ‘bye bye drone’.
Thanks for your thoughts and comments - helpful!
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