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pantograph cameras are already a thing
Almost all vehicles are fitted, they can be spotted on a night by the illumination they throw on to the contact wires. As far as i know though they are only viewed after an incident, have never heard it being requested for maintenance purposes. The footage can be viewed immediately in the control rooms, as can the view from all the other onboard cameras.
Working for a TOC, train operating company, we have referred damage we have seen when we view footage that has been found after we inspected the pantograph heads.
The use of drones above live running rails would be frowned upon by drivers, especially after dark if having to use illumination.
Working in a Control room, you hear lots of requests for track inspections after rough rides reported by traincrew. Depending what the driver has said to the signaller the line may be stopped, or line speed reduced awaiting inspection a person, suppose this is where a drone could be used, but unsure of the range they have to be flown.
In wet areas and areas likely to slippage there are loads of sensors which report centrally. As do signal and track circuit monitoring equipment.
All faults still need men on the ground to fix.
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paininthe
HelicopterHelicopter
I think ML did say that train based sensors and pantograph cameras are already a thing but no idea if across the whole network or not.