RAILWAYS LAUNCHES SMS ALERTS TO PREVENT ELEPHANT COLLISIONS

An SMS alert service has been commenced as of yesterday (10), as the first phase of the project on reducing train collisions with elephants.

This implementation will be carried out based on the information gathered from the Department of Wildlife, the general public and the officers of railway service.

Accordingly, this 24-hour SMS alert service would be executed to send out information on elephants roaming around railway lines.

Speaking to the media at a media briefing at the Railways Head Quarters, the General Manager of Railways (GMR) M.J. Dilantha Fernando said train-elephant collisions could not be stopped 100 percent but it could be controlled.

“People can inform about elephant herds through the hotline 24-hours. As soon as an SMS sent to through this number it will be recorded in a system in the Wildlife Department. “Then the SMS will be forwarded to Railways Department and then forwarded to a registered group in the railways.

“The group consists of engine drivers, rail guards, rail track supervisory managers, gatemen, people who live near railway lines affected by the elephant-human conflict, station masters where the elephant herd passes, people living along the tracks and all stakeholders who are interested on elephant-human conflict,” GMR Fernando said.

The SMS will be delivered among the group as ‘Elephant ALT’,” he said. He said that a typical SMS Alert would indicate the number of elephants, location, area, and the time and the track. Sample SMS – ElephantALT – Elephant Herd – Seen at 128.5 mile post – Between Galgamuwa-Tabuttegama at 19.34 – North Line

Meanwhile, the General Manager of Railways (GMR) Dilantha Fernando says that the Railway Department intends to deploy the power-set train imported from India for commuting without delay.

He said that a group of Indian officials had run tests yesterday, to detect defects on the imported train.

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SMS alert to prevent elephant–train collisions

The committee appointed recently to prevent elephant–train collisions has submitted a proposal to introduce an SMS alert network to get public help to prevent such accidents.

There is also another proposal to run night mail trains during the daytime, a committee member, Project Director - Elephant Collisions, Railways Department, Irosh Perera said.

Under the SMS alert system, anyone who spots an elephant roaming near a railway line can immediately text the Railway control room and inform them of the situation. The Railway Department will also formulate a system to inform an engine driver immediately if a member of public informs the Control room via text message of a wild elephant nearby.

The Railway Department will soon introduce a hotline for the SMS service, Perera said.

There were several reports in the recent past of collisions of elephants with trains. It is reported that around 12 elephants have died within a very short period of time due to elephant–train collisions. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the public to provide the correct information on wild elephants to prevent further occurrence of such accidents, he said.

The committee has also paid attention on running night mail and freight trains in the daytime without disrupting the service of daytime passenger trains, he said.

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