India Rail: Drones & Fibre Optics for Smarter Railway Monitoring

“`html

Introduction

Skylark Drones and Sensonic have partnered to integrate autonomous drone operations with distributed fibre optic sensing for railway infrastructure monitoring. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at International Railway Equipment Exhibition (IREE) 2025 in New Delhi, India, on October 17, 2025.

Collaboration Overview

The partnership between Skylark Drones and Sensonic seeks to enhance the digitalization of railway operations and maintenance, with the goal of preventing and minimizing service delays. The collaboration aims to enable real-time data detection and monitoring to support railway safety, security, and operational continuity.

Technology Integration

The collaboration will integrate Sensonic’s vibration sensing technology, which repurposes existing fibre optic cables as acoustic sensors along rail networks. This system will be combined with Skylark Drones’ autonomous platforms and software. The objective is to provide railway operators with enhanced monitoring tools to detect and respond to security threats, natural hazards, and maintenance needs.

Executive Commentary

Sensonic CEO Ashish Upadhyay stated that the company is “proud to combine our cutting-edge fibre optic sensing technology with Skylark’s ability to respond rapidly and autonomously via drones to enhance both rail safety and security.” Mrinal Pai, co-founder of Skylark Drones, noted that the integration of drones with distributed acoustic sensing and other IoT networks represents a shift to proactive railway operations.

Operational Advantages

Skylark Drones indicates that their fully autonomous Bharat Series drones can be deployed in less than one-third the time required for manual intervention, at significantly lower costs. The collaboration aims to provide actionable intelligence for building safer, smarter, and more resilient transit systems.

Conclusion

Skylark Drones and Sensonic have formalized an agreement to integrate autonomous drone operations with distributed fibre optic sensing for railway infrastructure monitoring, aiming to enhance railway operations and maintenance through real-time data detection and monitoring.

Company Summary

Skylark Drones: Skylark Drones develops and supplies drone-based solutions and operates as an Indian full-stack provider.

Sensonic: Sensonic, a member of the Kaynes Technology group, delivers distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) solutions that combine fibre optic technology with AI for continuous infrastructure surveillance.

“`