Archive · 13 Aug 2026
AI System 'Gajraj' Alerts Train Drivers to Elephants on Tracks
Elephants in India walk along paths they have used for a very long time, but trains now cross some of those paths.
When a train comes fast, the driver may not see the elephants until it is too late to stop.
A fully loaded train needs about 1.6 kilometres to stop even with emergency brakes.
So Indian Railways built a smart system called Gajraj Suraksha.
It uses special cables under the tracks that can feel tiny vibrations, like an elephant's footsteps.
The system learns to tell elephant footsteps apart from other movements.
When it senses elephants nearby, it sends an alert to the train driver and station workers.
The train can then slow down before reaching the elephants.
Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, 81 elephants died in train collisions.
The system is now being added along nearly 700 kilometres of forest routes.
In one area in Tamil Nadu, similar cameras helped elephants cross safely more than 9,000 times without a single death.
Indian Railways developed Gajraj Suraksha, an AI-enabled intrusion detection system using optical fibre cables laid beneath railway tracks.
The system detects elephant movement with 99.5 percent accuracy within five metres of the fibre optic cable and alerts loco pilots, station masters and control rooms.
India has an estimated 22,446 wild elephants and 150 identified elephant corridors; 81 elephants died in train collisions between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
The project is being rolled out across nearly 700 kilometres of forest routes at an estimated implementation cost of Rs 181 crore.
In Tamil Nadu's Madukkarai Forest Range, AI-powered thermal cameras helped enable about 9,481 safe elephant crossings with zero elephant deaths over two-and-a-half years.
- Who
- Indian Railways, loco pilots, the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA), and forest departments.
- What
- Indian Railways is rolling out Gajraj Suraksha, an AI-enabled intrusion detection system that senses elephants near tracks through fibre optic cables and alerts train drivers to slow down.
- When
- The project was announced last year and is being rolled out now; 81 elephant deaths from train collisions were recorded between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
- Where
- India, across nearly 700 kilometres of forest routes in states including Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu.
- Why
- To prevent elephant-train collisions by giving drivers earlier warning, since elephants cannot be spotted in time and trains require at least 1.6 kilometres to stop.
- System
- Gajraj Suraksha - AI-enabled Intrusion Detection System using Distributed Acoustic Sensors
- Detection accuracy
- 99.5 percent, within five metres of the fibre optic cable
- Wild elephant population in India
- Estimated 22,446 (nearly 60% of the world's wild Asian elephants)
- Elephant corridors
- 150 identified across India
- Elephant deaths in train collisions
- 81 between 2019-20 and 2023-24 (Lok Sabha data, July 2025)
- Rollout coverage
- Nearly 700 kilometres of forest routes
- Estimated implementation cost
- Rs 181 crore
- Madukkarai Forest Range results
- About 9,481 safe elephant crossings, zero elephant deaths over 2.5 years