Overview
- Railway officials say the Intrusion Detection System helped avert fatal encounters with elephants this year, with more than 160 animals saved across the Northeast Frontier Railway zone.
- The DAS-enabled setup converts optical fibre lines into continuous acoustic sensors, with AI models distinguishing elephant movement from other noise and triggering instant alerts to locomotive pilots and control rooms.
- NFR reports operational coverage across key stretches, including Kamakhya–Azara–Mirza (24 km), Madarihat–Nagrakata (52 km), Habaipur–Lamsakhang–Patharkhola–Lumding (32 km) and Titabar–Mariani–Nakachari (23 km), enhancing safety on 131 km of block sections.
- Installation work is in progress across multiple divisions—92 km in Alipurduar, 25 km in Katihar, 174 km in Rangiya, 110 km in Lumding and 12 km in Tinsukia—with a plan to cover all elephant corridors under NFR totaling 146.4 km and 413.42 km of block sections upon completion.
- The rollout complements other measures such as night speed restrictions in sensitive zones, warning signage, crew sensitisation, real-time data sharing with forest departments and the ‘Plan Bee’ deterrent using amplified honeybee sounds.