Flying near railways in the UK

[Johnmcl7]

I know the main rules for flying a drone in the UK but was looking to check the railway rules which are listed here:

Drone safety and the law

It seems fairly straightforward but would appreciate confirmation particularly when there's dire warnings about filming near railways, I'm not filming commercially and just looking to take some shots myself in the countryside a good distance from the railway line.

 

[Jerry]

“You must not fly a drone anywhere near the railway” sounds bs. I think common sense and “

• It is a criminal offence to fly a drone on, over or within 50 metres of the railway or within 150 metres in built up areas.
• It is a criminal offence to fly a drone on, over or within 50 metres a railway station or within 150 metres in built up areas.”

Is the legal requirement..

 

[JoeSoap76]

I'm fairly new to all this, but "You must not fly anywhere near the railway" shouldn't be under the heading 'criminal offence' as 'anywhere near' is entirely arbitrary and open to interpretation.

Really, all this seems to do is clarify that the track is considered a 'structure' and is therefore covered by Articles 94 & 95 of CAP 393.

That said, I'd be interested to know what legislation they mean when they say that it's an offence to fly 'over' the railway. The language suggests that's a separate condition to the 50m requirement, but the CAA specifically allows for overflying structures so long as you're higher than 50m.

 

[ed956]

I believe it is a railway bylaw, there’s loads of them that seem to be more powerful that standard criminal law

 

[Ren57]

Not sure about any railway bylaws but not flying anywhere near railways is just the same rule as flying near any other building or structure that is not under your control. In other words, not closer than 50 metres. Although you can apply what is known as the 'dome rule' to fly closer than 50 metres, as long as you increase your altitude accordingly. In other words you can fly up to 40 metres away as long as you increase your altitude to 60 metres or 30 metres if you increase your altitude to 70 metres.... and so on.

 

[JoeSoap76]

I believe it is a railway bylaw, there’s loads of them that seem to be more powerful that standard criminal law

Don't know if they're more powerful so much as more vague. I don't see a specific byelaw that covers this, but lots of scope for an eager BTP officer to find a way. It looks like they only need to be of the opinion that you pose a threat to the railway infrastructure and you can be told to move along and/or fined...

"No person shall bring with him or allow to remain on the railway any item which, in the opinion of an authorised person, may threaten, annoy, soil or damage any person or any property."​

​

"An authorised person may, in an emergency or in other circumstances in which he believes he should act in the interests of safety, issue instructions to any person on the railway. No person shall, without good cause, disobey such instructions."​

 

[Ren57]

It seems fairly straightforward but would appreciate confirmation particularly when there's dire warnings about filming near railways, I'm not filming commercially and just looking to take some shots myself in the countryside a good distance from the railway line.

Whatever the powers of the BTP may be, if you're flying in the countryside and not in a built up area, it is very unlikely that the BTP are going to be bothering you anyway. By the time they could/would turn up, you'll be long gone

 

[Johnmcl7]

Whatever the powers of the BTP may be, if you're flying in the countryside and not in a built up area, it is very unlikely that the BTP are going to be bothering you anyway. By the time they could/would turn up, you'll be long gone

My concern was if I shared a photo online and someone reported me for it so I wanted to make sure I was correctly understanding the rules for flying near railways.

 

[bushie]

I have spent a lifetime working in the rail industry, mainly in Australia but also for LUL in the UK and also in China, Africa and Mongolia.

Railway bylaws can impose draconian restrictions and sanctions. Just dont fly within the defined limits and if you wish to film railway equipment be sure hou know the relevant law/bylaws/regulations for your country and the rail system.

Finally please dont be an idiot like some of the video i have seen posted here.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I have spent a lifetime working in the rail industry, mainly in Australia but also for LUL in the UK and also in China, Africa and Mongolia.

Railway bylaws can impose draconian restrictions and sanctions. Just dont fly within the defined limits and if you wish to film railway equipment be sure hou know the relevant law/bylaws/regulations for your country and the rail system.

Finally please dont be an idiot like some of the video i have seen posted here.

Do you think I'd spend the time creating a topic posting the regulations and requesting verification of the UK laws if I planned to be 'an idiot'? For all your vast apparent experience, your rather spammy post doesn't actually answer the question I asked - I did not need to be told to fly by the regulations when I was already asking for clarifications on the regulations which you don't seem to actually know yourself. Did you even read the thread or just decided to go on the attack when you saw the thread title?

 

[Ren57]

My concern was if I shared a photo online and someone reported me for it so I wanted to make sure I was correctly understanding the rules for flying near railways.

As long as you're sticking to the UK rules for flying a drone near vehicles, vessels or structures, I can't see a problem. And that is no closer than 50 metres, unless you intend to use the before mentioned dome rule, which would allow you to fly closer than 50 metres but you'd have to increase your altitude accordingly. Having said that, I have no idea if there are any special regulations for the railways. As far as I can tell, looking at Network Rails website, the rules are the same as for any other vehicle, vessel or structure.

 

[Johnmcl7]

As long as you're sticking to the UK rules for flying a drone near vehicles, vessels or structures, I can't see a problem. And that is no closer than 50 metres, unless you intend to use the before mentioned dome rule, which would allow you to fly closer than 50 metres but you'd have to increase your altitude accordingly. Having said that, I have no idea if there are any special regulations for the railways. As far as I can tell, looking at Network Rails website, the rules are the same as for any other vehicle, vessel or structure.

I would hope that even if Network Rail's website isn't correct that at worst it the limits would be higher than they are legally so if I comply with those rules on the NR site then I'm definitely ok, it concerns me slightly there's no links to the actual law for those rules which is why I created this topic in case they weren't correct.

In practice with the train moving fast across the frame I'd need to be around 150m anyway and since that's in the countryside that's nowhere near the 50m limit so I should be fine. I'm perhaps over cautious about these things but feel it's worth checking first to make sure.

 

[star4870]

This is All bs, they can put what they want on their website but this not have any legal repercussions. Same with CAA this is guidens and maybe become law in futere but righ now it isn't. The only law is the altitude limit and air port restrictions.

 

[bushie]

Do you think I'd spend the time creating a topic posting the regulations and requesting verification of the UK laws if I planned to be 'an idiot'? For all your vast apparent experience, your rather spammy post doesn't actually answer the question I asked - I did not need to be told to fly by the regulations when I was already asking for clarifications on the regulations which you don't seem to actually know yourself. Did you even read the thread or just decided to go on the attack when you saw the thread title?

I was not calling you an idiot but refering to some video i have seen here. One actually flew in and out an open door on a moving freight wagon.
I crtainly do not know the book of rules for every system. I was mearly trying to address a wider audience here and alert readers to the often draconian railway bylaws.

My apologies if i offended you.