Railways Sanctions 403 Route Km More AI Elephant Detection System for Northeast Frontier Railway

The Ministry of Railways has sanctioned an additional 403.42 route kilometres of AI-enabled Intrusion Detection System (IDS) for elephant detection on Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) tracks, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday in response to a question from MPs Dola Sen and Sagarika Ghose.

The IDS is currently operational over 141 route kilometres on critical and vulnerable locations identified by the Forest Department within NFR, helping to prevent train-elephant collisions and protect both wildlife and rail operations.

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The AI-enabled IDS uses Distributed Acoustic Sensors (DAS) embedded along optical fibre cables, with pre-installed signatures of elephant locomotion patterns. When the system detects elephant movement near the tracks, it generates real-time alerts for loco pilots, station masters, and railway control rooms, enabling timely preventive action.

Beyond NFR's 403.42 route kilometres, the IDS has been sanctioned for identified wildlife corridors across multiple railway zones: East Coast Railway (368.70 Rkm), Western Railway (115 Rkm), North Eastern Railway (99.18 Rkm), Southern Railway (55.85 Rkm), South Eastern Railway (55 Rkm), Northern Railway (52 Rkm), and East Central Railway (20.30 Rkm).

Vaishnaw said an average of approximately 16 train-elephant collision incidents have been reported annually over the past five years. Data shows two elephant deaths in 2019-20, five in 2020-21, eight in 2021-22, seven in 2022-23, and two in 2023-24.

The most recent and most devastating incident occurred on December 20, 2025, when seven to eight wild elephants — including calves — were killed after the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck a herd crossing the tracks in Hojai district near Kampur.

The Ministry said it coordinates closely with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and that zonal railways investigate each incident in coordination with forest officials, impose speed restrictions at identified locations, and conduct regular sensitisation meetings with train crews.