Swiss railways uses drones against graffiti sprayers
The Swiss Federal Railways is taking action against graffiti artists.
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Listening: Swiss railways uses drones against graffiti sprayers
The Swiss Federal Railways has been using drones in the fight against graffiti sprayers since the beginning of July, having received authorisation from the Federal Office of Civil Aviation to do so.
The company confirmed a report in the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, according to which the drones fly up to 30 metres high and are only used in the track area, where unauthorised access is prohibited.
The target is people who trespass on railroad premises at night, namely graffiti artists.
The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has issued a permit to the Video and Graffiti Unit of the Federal Railways Transport Police for this purpose. This authorises the operation of the Beehive 1 drone system from Sunflower Labs. The drones are automated, but are monitored by humans.
The federal railways 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 the federal railways, damage caused by vandalism costs the company several million francs a year.
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Graffiti removal costs Swiss railways millions
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This is an increase compared to the year before (little over CHF5 million) but less than the all-time record in 2015 when the clean-up bill reached CHF6.3 million. According to the company, “the aim of the sprayers is to make their graffiti visible to as many people as possible. This is why railway carriages are…
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