Spa Valley Railway » Use of Drones & Other Aircraft Systems
DronesThe term "drone" is used below for brevity, but includes all unmanned aircraft and aircraft systems including, but not limited to, radio and remotely controlled 'planes.
For the Spa Valley Railway, the same policy and arrangements apply to kites, balloons etc. Use of Unmanned Aircraft and Aircraft Systems is governed by the civil Aviation Authority. See www.caa.co.uk. The regulations include the requirement not to fly within 50 metres of any person, vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft.
Drones must not be operated from Spa Valley Railway property* or within 50m of Spa Valley Railway property*, except where specific authority has been given in writing by the General Manager, they can be contacted via email here. That authority will be at the sole discretion of the Spa Valley Railway and may be withdrawn without notice at any time. Any authority will be given only after a risk assessment and suitable controls have been put in place.
Please be aware that a lot of the surrounding countryside and land is private, and this might not be apparent at first, please respect our neighbours and do not trespass.
We have seen some great photographs taken from drones as they have become more popular. These have been taken from a safe distance as per the above and we love sharing your images, similarly, some drone operators have been able to help us get video footage and photos of some of the not as easily accessible areas of our railway, and this has been through prior arrangement.
*Spa Valley Railway 'property' is the railway line and between its boundary fences from Tunbridge Wells West Station to Birchden Junction. The limit of our property is the boundary gate at Birchden Junction with Network Rail, thereafter between Birchden Junction & Eridge the track and land between the fences is the property of Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd.
RSSB Guidance: http://www.rssb.co.uk/industry-news/new-assurance-code-for-drone-operators http://www.risqs.org/news/new-risqs-assurance-code-for-drone-operators/