Rajdhani tragedy spurs NFR expansion of AI safety net for jumbos

Guwahati: Close on the heels of the tragic death of eight elephants hit by a Rajdhani Express in Assam last Saturday, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is accelerating the expansion of its AI-driven Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to cover every elephant corridor under its network.NFR chief PRO Kapinjal Kishore Sharma stated that technology-driven initiatives have delivered encouraging results, with more than 160 elephant lives saved in 2025 alone and over 2,000 elephants since 2017 while crossing railway tracks under NFR’s jurisdiction.At the centre of this success is the IDS, an advanced AI tool based on distributed acoustic system (DAS) principles, which detects elephant movement near railway tracks in real-time monitoring and instantly alerts loco pilots and control rooms, enabling timely preventive action.At present, IDS installations safeguard 62.7 km of elephant corridors and 131 km of block sections in NFR zone.“Upon completion, the system will cover all elephant corridors under NFR, totalling 146.4 km with an overall block section length of 413.42 km, creating a robust and comprehensive safety network,” the CPRO stated.The CPRO said that NFR has also adopted innovative preventive measures to reduce train elephant interactions like the ‘Plan Bee’ system, installed at vulnerable level crossing gates, uses amplified honeybee sounds audible up to 400 metres to deter elephants from approaching tracks.“In coordination with the forest department, NFR has also enhanced safety through real-time information sharing, night time speed restrictions in elephant corridors, temporary speed curbs based on sightings, sensitization of train crews, installation of cautionary signage and vegetation clearance to improve visibility,” the CPRO added.At the national level, Indian Railways has strengthened wildlife protection by deploying the IDS technology.The CPRO said that the IDS technology which has been successfully piloted on NFR, the system is now being expanded to other parts of the country. “This expansion will cover an additional 981 route kilometres, taking the total coverage to 1,122 route kilometres across Indian Railways, reinforcing its commitment to wildlife conservation and safe train operations,” he added.