Three elephants, including two calves, were killed on Thursday night after being struck by a speeding express train near Banstala railway station in Bengal’s Paschim Midnapore district, according to local police officials.
The collision took place on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section when a herd of approximately 30 elephants, believed to have migrated from the Dalma forest in neighbouring Jharkhand, tried to cross the railway tracks.
The Janshatabdi Express hit the trio.
(PTI)
“It was difficult to go near the carcasses for some time, as the herd of 30 elephants was passing through the area,” a police officer at the scene told PTI.
In India rail lines often cut through migratory paths of elephants.
Last year, the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) issued a public statement highlighting the technical limitations faced by train operators during such incidents.
According to a blog entry published on their official website, the association pointed out that even if emergency brakes are applied, a fully loaded train can only come to a stop after travelling at least 1.6 kilometers.
“Trains cannot be stopped abruptly upon encountering elephants crossing the tracks,” the blog noted, stressing the physical constraints of braking systems in high-speed and freight trains. The AILRSA has called for systemic preventive measures, rather than placing the burden on train drivers alone.
Carcass of an elephant is being removed from the railway track (PTI)
In search of solutions
Among the solutions proposed by the loco-pilots’ association is the installation of subways and the rollout of the Intrusion Detection System (IDS)-an AI-powered technology aimed at alerting rail authorities when elephants or other animals are near the tracks.
Current methods in use, such as whistling and braking, have been described by AILRSA as largely ineffective.
A coexistence contrast
The fatal collision near Banstala comes barely a week after a contrasting incident in Jharkhand illustrated the possibility of harmonious intervention.
On the Ranchi-Koderma line, a coal-laden goods train was halted for over two hours to allow a pregnant elephant to safely deliver her calf on the tracks between Barkakana and Hazaribag stations, just last week.
The Eastern Central Railways, under whose jurisdiction the event occurred, suspended train movement until both the mother and calf had moved away safely.
The incident drew widespread praise from animal rights groups and railway authorities, who viewed it as a successful case of coordination between human systems and wildlife needs.
