Trains can’t be stopped abruptly on sighting elephants on track, say loco pilots

AILRSA urges authorities to implement measures to prevent elephant-train collisions, emphasizing the need for Intrusion Detection System and subways.

Trains cannot be stopped abruptly on sighting elephants crossing the railway track, the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) has said.

In a letter to the Kerala Forest Minister, the association said that applying the emergency brakes would bring a loaded train to a halt only after a distance of 1.6 km.

Pointing out that the railway tracks were declared protected areas and owners of domestic animals would have to be held punishable for trespassing on the track by their animals, the association said effective measures should be taken by the authorities concerned as regards protecting wild animals from getting hit by trains.

The loco pilots were referring to the May 7 incident near Kanjikode railway station in Kerala where a young adult female elephant was fatally hit by the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Mail. This was the second such incident of elephant death in a month in the Walayar range of Palakkad forest division.

Saying that one of the main reasons for jumbo hits was the sudden trespass by elephant/elephants in a hurry to join the herd that had already crossed the track, the association sought to dismiss reports that the loco pilot and his assistant were overspeeding at the time of the jumbo hit.

The incident took place between Kottekkad and Kanjikode railway stations where the permissible speed was 110 kmph and hence, the question of the crew exceeding any restricted speed limit did not arise, the association said.

A speed restriction of 45 kmph at night was clamped at certain distances in the Madukkarai-Ettimadai, Ettimadai-Kanjikode and Kanjikode-Kottekad sections after a joint inspection by the railway and forest department officials.