NFR opts for optical sensor tech to curb jumbo deaths

Guwahati: After the amplifying system imitating the buzz of a swarm of honey bees to keep wild jumbos away from rail tracks failed to give an ultimate solution to curb elephant deaths, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is going to roll out optical sensor technology to alert locomotive drivers about the presence of animals in the vicinity of trains.
The technology, known as Intrusion Detection System (IDS) will also not lead to loss of time while slowing down the trains in the elephant corridors where the speed limit is currently restricted between 30kmph and 50 kmph, depending upon visibility.
NFR officials said the pilot project launched in June, under which IDS was operationalisd in 11 elephant corridors across Lumding and Alipurduar divisions of NFR, have been successful. The new proposal is now being readied to install the artificial intelligence-based system in the remaining 69 notified elephant corridors under it.
“As and when elephants or any animal crosses the optical fibres, the alert goes to the divisional control rooms and subsequently an alert is sent to the guards manning the nearby level crossings to communicate with the driver to stop or slow down the train,” NFR chief public relations officer, Sabyasachi De, told TOI. “Unless the alert is given, there is no need to break the speed limit in elephant corridors,” he added.
The IDS is a technology based on distortion of signals in optical fibre cables laid along the tracks in elephant corridors. Optical fibres spread upto 40 metres on either side of the track, De said.
“From the level crossing, the alert will be sent to the train drivers to stop the train and slow down after analysing the timing of crossing of the optical fibres by wildlife,” De explained.
Among all railway zones in the country, NFR has the longest stretch which witnesses jumbo movement. It spreads along 438 km, covering 80 elephant corridors across five railway divisions, spread over Assam, West Bengal and parts of Bihar. Assam has reported 30 elephant deaths on rail tracks in the past 10 years, while the corresponding figure is 55 in the NFR zone areas that fall in North Bengal.
Industry sources said the optical fibre sensing technology was previously used by the oil and gas industry for detection of leakages in oil pipelines. It has been modified as IDS by the railways to detect wildlife movement. A similar technology is also used in the European railway system for real-time monitoring of train movement, widely used in Germany.
In NFR areas, while the optical fibres were already laid down for communication purposes, these came handy when IDS was mooted.