Indian Railways' Innovations for Wildlife Safety

The Indian Railways has implemented various safety measures, in coordination with the forest department, to protect wild animals during train operations. These include honey bee buzzer devices, AI-enabled Intrusion Detection Systems, speed restrictions, and construction of underpasses. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw provided these updates in the Rajya Sabha.

The Indian Railways has rolled out several measures in collaboration with the forest department to safeguard wild animals during train operations, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Among the innovative solutions are honey bee buzzer devices and AI-enabled Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Vaishnaw noted in response to BRS MP Parthasaradhi Reddy's inquiries about wild animal deaths on railway tracks.

The measures include speed restrictions in animal corridors, regular meetings with forest officials for crew awareness, vegetation clearance near tracks, and elephant trackers managed by the forest department. Other strategies involve constructing underpasses and ramps for elephants, as well as installing fencing, thermal vision cameras, and LED lights with solar systems to deter animals.

Vaishnaw detailed the deployment of Optical Fiber Cable-based Distributed Acoustic Sensors (DAS) for early detection of wild animals. This system has so far been installed over 54 km of the Northeast Frontier Railway and aims to enhance safety and minimize train delays.

(With inputs from agencies.)