Green light from the Federal Office SBB takes action against sprayers with automated drones

SBB has been using drones in the fight against sprayers since the beginning of July. They have received authorization from the Federal Office of Civil Aviation to do so.

SBB has been using automatic drones in the fight against sprayers since the beginning of July. They have received authorization from the Federal Office of Civil Aviation to do so. The company confirmed a report in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper .

According to the report, the drones fly up to thirty meters high and are only used in the track area, where unauthorized access is prohibited. This was announced by SBB yesterday evening at the request of Keystone-SDA. The target is people who trespass on railroad premises at night - namely sprayers.

The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has issued a permit to the Video and Graffiti Unit of the SBB Transport Police for this purpose. This authorizes the operation of the Beehive 1 drone system from Sunflower Labs. The drones are automated, but are monitored by humans.

SBB is not disclosing how many such drone missions have been flown since the beginning of July and where they have taken place "for police reasons". According to SBB, damage caused by vandalism costs the company several million francs a year.