German railway to test long-range drones to assess storm damage on rail lines

Germany's national railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) plans to test long-range drones that can survey railway tracks after severe weather events. From 2025, DB plans to deploy around 100 drones throughout Germany to monitor vegetation and infrastructure, the company announced. These should help DB get a quick overview of the effects of severe weather on tracks without needing to close them to perform the task, public broadcaster ARD reported.

Heavy rainfall and storms, which can cause landslides or trees to block tracks, have increasingly become a problem for the railway operator, sometimes even derailing trains. Climate change makes these extreme weather events more intense and more frequent, and DB is stepping up its efforts to adapt to the effects. Vegetation management can be used as a measure for storm damage prevention, for example by identifying trees at risk of falling on tracks.

DB already uses drones to assess the condition of shorter sections of railway tracks, but the new ones have a significantly longer range of around 150 kilometres, ARD reported. "We can use them during normal train operations, even in wind and bad weather, and even at night," said Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, head of digitalisation and technology at DB.

Increasing support by EU institutions, national governments, and the private sector will all be key to ensuring that Europe is in the best possible shape to deal with the challenges posed by a warming world. Adapting to the already unavoidable effects of climate change is necessary to save lives, reduce the ecological and socio-economic impacts of the crisis, and minimise future costs.