Geofencing for Lineside Vegetation Management
Vegetation management is critical to ensure the railway is kept safe. Vegetation can block access and damage infrastructure if not carefully managed – and has the potential to encroach on train routes too.
Vegetation management is therefore a complex process – and many teams including contractors, ecologists, maintenance teams are involved. There are several considerations for the teams involved in lineside vegetation management and these include:
- Rail performance and safety.
- Environmental compliance.
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- Cost effective solutions for maintenance.
How tech can play a vital role in vegetation management
Trials using AI to identify species and plants using cameras on trains have proven that technology can play a role in monitoring flora and fauna lineside.
The trials, in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) have demonstrated that AI can identify both invasive as well as native species that could be under threat due to disease.
Dr Tom August, a computational ecologist at UKCEH, explains:
“The trials demonstrated that we will be able to monitor lineside vegetation safely, cheaply, quickly and at scale.”