At least seven elephants died and a calf sustained injuries after a tragic collision between a herd and the Sairang–New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam’s Hojai district early Saturday, severely disrupting rail operations in the region.
Railway officials said the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani hit a large group of elephants around 2.17 am, leading to the derailment of the locomotive and five coaches. No passengers were injured in the incident, though train movement across several routes was affected.
The train, which runs between Sairang and Anand Vihar Terminal, met with the accident nearly 126 km from Guwahati. Following the derailment, emergency relief trains and senior railway officials rushed to the site to begin restoration work.
According to sources, elephant carcasses and debris on the tracks forced the suspension and regulation of several services towards Upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast. Passengers from the damaged coaches were shifted to vacant berths in unaffected coaches. Railway authorities said that once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be attached before it continues its onward journey.
Officials clarified that the accident location is not a notified elephant corridor. The loco pilot reportedly applied emergency brakes after noticing the herd on the tracks, but the elephants reportedly moved into the train’s path, resulting in the collision.
Expressing sorrow over the incident, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway, said the pilot’s timely action helped avert passenger casualties. He added that out of around 600 passengers, about 200 from the affected coaches were safely relocated, allowing partial restoration of the service.
Restoration work is underway, though only a single rail line is operational at present. Sharma said nine trains have been cancelled, 13 regulated, and two short-terminated due to the derailment in the Jamunamukh–Kampur section under the Lumding division.
Several services, including Rangiya–New Tinsukia Express, Guwahati–Jorhat Town Jan Shatabdi Express and Guwahati–Badarpur Vistadome Express, were cancelled. Others, such as the Sealdah–Sabroom Kanchanjunga Express and the Dibrugarh–New Delhi Rajdhani Express, were regulated.
Helpline numbers have been issued at Guwahati Railway Station to assist passengers:
0361-2731621 / 0361-2731622 / 0361-2731623.
The incident has once again drawn attention to the growing concern over wildlife deaths on railway tracks. Data shared earlier by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change revealed that 79 elephants were killed in train accidents across the country over the last five years.
The government has stated that multiple preventive measures are being implemented in coordination with Indian Railways, including speed restrictions in sensitive zones, use of detection technologies, construction of underpasses and fencing, and awareness programmes for railway staff, to reduce such human–wildlife conflicts in the future.
