East West Rail’s use of thermal drones improving wildlife protection   

East West Railway Company (EWR Co) has adopted an innovative drone-led approach to its survey work to better protect wildlife and improve efficiency during archaeological investigations for the rail project connecting  Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. 

Developed alongside EWR Co's surveying contractor Kier, the new methodology uses thermal imaging drone  surveys for large sites, supported by environmental professionals to identify and protect ground-nesting birds before archaeological trenching begins. The approach enables environmentally sensitive areas to be accurately mapped, allowing works to progress safely in unaffected locations while ensuring nesting birds and their habitats remain protected. 

The initiative provides greater certainty for construction programmes, reduces delays and helps maintain progress throughout the peak bird nesting season between March and August - one of the key environmental challenges associated with undertaking archaeological investigations. 

Thermal drone surveys can identify ecological constraints across a large site within two to three hours, providing earlier visibility of nesting activity and enabling targeted vegetation clearance, ecological buffer zones and continued progress where it is safe to do so.  

By identifying constraints faster, a drone-led approach also helps minimise programme delays, reduce site stand-downs and avoid unnecessary reprogramming during the peak nesting season.  

Tristan Lincoln-Gordon, Director of Environment, EWR Co, said: "Protecting the environment while delivering critical infrastructure is fundamental to how we build East West Rail. By embracing innovative technologies such as thermal drone surveys, we can identify and safeguard ground-nesting birds more effectively, giving our teams greater certainty to plan and deliver archaeological works responsibly.

“This approach enables us to enhance our ecological protection measures while improving  efficiency and reducing disruption to ensure the effective delivery of one of the UK's most significant railway projects.” 

Jonathan Pearce, Project Director for EWR at Kier, said: “At Kier, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to improve delivery, creating value through safe and sustainable outcomes. East West Rail shares that same forward-thinking approach, and together we're able to develop solutions that not only improve project performance but also raise the bar for the wider industry." 

Although drone surveys represent the preferred approach for managing ground-nesting birds, EWR Co will continue to apply robust ecological safeguards throughout construction. These include using environment professionals - known as Ecological Clerks of Works - to provide supervision at key stages, post-clearance verification surveys, ongoing monitoring where ecological buffers remain in place, and continued engagement with landowners and stakeholders. 

Ends 

Key findings: bird and mammal activity  

A range of species typical of farmland ecology was recorded, including Skylark, Yellow Hammer, Red Kite, Buzzard, pheasant, woodpigeon, mallard and coot (linked to nearby lakes), blackbird, carrion crow and magpie. A crow’s nest was successfully identified using thermal imaging within the upper woodland canopy, with recordings capturing the adult on the nest feeding young. This demonstrates the ability of thermal drones to detect active nesting sites not easily visible from ground level, support targeted mitigation strategies and minimise disturbance to wildlife activity. As well as the Skylark, thermal imaging will also be able to potentially identify other ground-nesting birds, such as the Woodlark and Lapwing. In terms of mammals, the drone identified brown hares present at low density across the arable field and high numbers of rabbits, including identification of warren locations. These observations provide critical input for construction planning, habitat management and avoidance measures. 

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About the East West Rail Project     

The East West Rail Project is a once in a generation opportunity to connect people and businesses between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge through a new direct rail line. It is a railway with community at its heart that will open up new journeys, cut travel times, and ease congestion on local roads. The route will connect people to the things and places that matter, bringing local benefit and sustainable growth by unlocking the social and economic potential of the area.            

The East West Rail Project will be delivered in different phases. Network Rail was responsible for developing the first part of the first phase between Oxford and Milton Keynes, connecting Oxford with Bicester before the East West Rail Company (EWR co) was set up. Between 2018 and 2024, EWR Co and Network Rail partnered in a construction alliance, East West Rail Alliance, to complete the infrastructure to Bletchley. Chiltern Railways has taken over as the operator of this section and are working to start passenger services as soon as possible.