Northeast Frontier Railway Prevents 255 Elephant Train Strikes

Guwahati: Northeast Frontier Railway authorities saved 255 elephants from train strikes between January and September. Staff worked hard across the Alipurduar, Rangia, Lumding, and Tinsukia divisions to stop these hits. Chief spokesperson Kapinjal Kishore Sharma credited the success to better surveillance and close teamwork with forest officials.

Railway crews used an AI-based Intrusion Detection System to catch elephant movement in real-time. This setup relies on Distributed Acoustic System technology to spot danger quickly. Officials also rely on Plan Bee, a system that blasts amplified honeybee sounds to scare herds away from the tracks. It works. The railway has cleared vegetation, installed signs, and set temporary speed limits for trains at night.

Workers are building underpasses to keep wildlife off the rails permanently. Crews also warn passengers and pantry staff to keep food waste off the tracks, as scraps pull hungry animals into the path of oncoming trains. Staffers keep the forest department in the loop at all times to ensure rapid responses. "Continuous coordination and real-time communication with the forest department further enable timely action whenever elephant movement is detected," Sharma said.