Days after eight elephants were killed in Assam when a herd crossing railway tracks was struck by the Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express, the Railway Ministry has announced a major expansion of its artificial intelligence-based wildlife detection system across the northeastern region. The ministry said an AI-enabled Intrusion Detection System will be extended to an additional 981 kilometres of track to help prevent such incidents.

Indian Railways has awarded a tender for the installation of the AI-based system, which is designed to detect the presence of elephants near railway tracks and provide early warnings to loco pilots. The system is already operational on a pilot basis across 141 route kilometres on the Northeast Frontier Railway.

The pilot stretches include the Madarihat–Nagrakata section under the Alipurduar division, the Habaipur–Lamsakhang–Patharkhola–Lumding section under the Lumding division, the Kamakhya–Azara–Mirza section in the Rangiya division, and the Titabar–Mariani–Nakachari stretch under the Tinsukia division.

The recent accident occurred in the early hours of December 20, when the Rajdhani Express hit a herd of elephants in Changjurai village in Assam’s Hojai district, leading to the deaths of eight animals. The impact also caused the derailment of five coaches and the locomotive.

With the new tender, total coverage of the AI-enabled Intrusion Detection System will increase to 1,122 route kilometres, the ministry said. The system uses distributed acoustic sensing technology to generate real-time alerts for loco pilots, station masters and control rooms when elephant movement is detected near railway tracks, allowing timely preventive action.

In addition to the intrusion detection system, the Railways plans to install AI-based cameras that will alert loco pilots up to 0.5 kilometres in advance to help protect other wildlife, including lions and tigers, along with elephants.

The ministry said Indian Railways has been making sustained efforts to prevent wildlife casualties on railway tracks through technology-driven solutions. It added that the deployment and expansion of the AI-enabled intrusion detection system reflects its commitment to wildlife conservation and safe train operations.

Earlier, on October 20, the Northeast Frontier Railway said the system would be rolled out across its network by April 2026 to curb elephant deaths caused by speeding trains. The NFR first installed the intrusion detection system at two locations in the Lumding and Alipurduar divisions in 2022, and has set April 2026 as the target date for full operational coverage across identified elephant corridors.