British Transport Police launches BVLOS drone operations across UK rail network

British Transport Police (BTP) has launched routine Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations across the UK rail network. The new capability allows drones to be launched remotely from strategically located drone-in-a-box stations and operated from a central control centre in London, providing officers with live aerial intelligence before they arrive at an incident.

Seven drone-in-a-box locations

The system has been developed by BTP in partnership with BT Business as a scalable Drone as First Responder capability. Seven drone-in-a-box locations are currently operational across the rail network, with plans to expand to as many as 14 sites over the next two years.

The drones are intended to support responses to incidents including trespassing, welfare concerns and operational disruptions. The UK rail network covers more than 20,000 miles, making it impractical for officers to reach every incident quickly. According to BTP, more than 19,300 trespass incidents were recorded across the network in 2023/2024, equivalent to roughly one incident every 30 minutes.

Drones controlled from London

The drones can be dispatched remotely, with operators at the BTP operations centre in London Bridge receiving live UHD video from the aircraft. BT provides the connectivity through its Drone SIM solution, which uses the EE mobile network to maintain command-and-control connectivity beyond normal Wi-Fi coverage.

The idea is to give police officers an aerial view of an incident before personnel reach the location. This can help them assess the situation, determine what resources are required and potentially reduce disruption to rail services.

According to BTP, it is the first UK police force to routinely operate BVLOS drones as part of day-to-day policing. The deployment therefore represents a significant step towards the routine use of remotely operated drones over large areas of critical infrastructure.

ProRail looking at similar approach

The development in the UK is particularly relevant to the Netherlands, where ProRail, the Dutch railway infrastructure manager, is also exploring the use of drones for surveillance along the railway. Following the large-scale rail sabotage on September 15, the Dutch railway infrastructure manager said it wants to investigate whether drones could provide additional surveillance capabilities.

ProRail currently operates around 300 cameras at level crossings and approximately 6,000 cameras at railway stations. However, much of the roughly 7,000-kilometre Dutch rail network remains outside camera coverage. ProRail therefore sees potential in strategically positioned drone-in-a-box systems that could autonomously patrol sections of railway.

Such drones could detect anomalies such as an open gate or a person in a location where they should not be, after which an operator or emergency service could be alerted. ProRail has already conducted smaller-scale experiments, but says Dutch regulations would need to be changed to allow the kind of long-distance BVLOS operations it has in mind.

The British deployment provides a practical example of how such a system could work: fixed drone stations, remote pilots and a central control room combining live aerial imagery with existing emergency-response procedures.