Irish Rail Case Study

DeterCam team deployed more than 100 DeterCam units along a critical three-mile deer-crossing hotspot in Killarney, covering approaches from both sides of the railway.

Comprehensive surveys during Phase 1 identified three major level crossings used by deer as entry points, with most activity occurring at night. Once inside the railway boundary, deer were observed travelling up to four miles along the track in search of an exit, leaving them exposed to approaching trains.

The deployment was therefore designed to monitor these entry points, deter deer from entering the railway and encourage animals already within the boundary to move towards available exits.

• Severe Operational Disruption: Frequent deer strikes caused rolling-stock damage, train cancellations, and service delays, averaging ~25 collisions annually before deployment.

Units were installed within 1 meter of tracks on boundary fences, level-crossing posts, and signage markers.
• Phase 1 (Monitoring): 200+ edge-AI cameras mapped movement patterns, identifying 5–7 deer visits daily alongside foxes and cats.
• Phase 2 (Active Deterrence): Monitoring units were replaced with DeterCam units equipped with audible alarms tailored to the deer species present at the site, lighting, and custom vibration patterns.
• Next Phase (Expansion): Future deployments will utilize a mix of DeterCam v5 and DeterCam Smart, which provide highly powerful, long-distance deterrence capabilities without requiring an active cloud connection.

Evaluate automated AI edge deterrence to eliminate deer–train strikes, test intelligent audible alarm efficacy in noise-sensitive residential corridors, and validate synchronized ATS/TTS triggers under harsh coastal railway conditions.

Evaluate automated, edge-based AI deterrence to prevent deer–train collisions, assess the effectiveness of intelligent audible alarms in noise-sensitive residential corridors, and validate synchronised ATS/TTS triggering under harsh coastal railway conditions.

The edge-AI successfully identified and deterred multiple local species during the deployment:

• Red Deer
• Sika Deer
• Reeves’s muntjac
• Fallow Deer

Observations during DeterCam operation suggest changes in deer behaviour, with animals moving away from the protected area. Continued monitoring will help identify whether new crossing hotspots emerge.

The proposed next step is to combine the Animal Trigger System (ATS) and Train Trigger System (TTS) to coordinate deterrence with approaching trains. This approach aims to preserve wildlife movement when no train is approaching while discouraging animals from entering the track during train movements.