News
Train drivers refuse night time runs without elephant detection tools
View(s):By Kasun Warakapitiya
The Locomotive Operating Engineers Union said it will not operate trains, including the night mail, in areas where elephants roam in the northern and eastern tracks, particularly the Trincomalee and Batticaloa routes.
In 2025, there were 21 elephant deaths from train accidents out of a total of 438 deaths.
Unionists said they have not been provided with any technical support to detect elephants.
They said they are blamed for elephants that collide with trains, yet due to poor nighttime visibility, they are unable to detect animals from a distance.
21 elephants died from train accidents in 2025
According to Union head K.A.U. Konthasinghe, the most vulnerable areas include Habarana, Palugaswewa, Minneriya and Kanthale.
“When we operate trains at night, we are blinded by darkness. The lamps of the trains do have a limit. Often, engine drivers detect elephants too late,’’ he said. It is imperative that some early detection devices be fitted on the trains.
Mr Konthasinghe said the matter was even discussed with the President a few months back, where a proposal was made to have elephant detection devices fitted in the train engine cabin, as well as a signalling lighting system, yet to be implemented.
Railway employees explained that once officers of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) travelled in train engines to alert train drivers to elephants near tracks. But when they become visible, it is too late. So locomotive drivers asked for devices that could detect elephants from a distance.
Railway running shed workers said wheel sets and undercarriages are damaged when trains derail or crash into large elephants. Tracks are also damaged.
The Sunday Times has previously reported initiatives and trials of hi-tech gear to detect elephants in advance and to notify engine drivers.
Some of them were AI-powered infrared cameras, radar-based large animal detection systems, sensor-based illumination systems, GPS-based tracking devices and the use of information on past accidents to identify high-risk areas.
It is evident that these systems are not being used. Although third parties such as universities and non-governmental organisations, as well as inventors, propose ideas, state authorities are slow to implement them.
A Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) spokesman told the Sunday Times that talks have been scheduled with Wildlife Conservation Director General Ranjan Marasinghe tomorrow to implement two separate projects: using a radar-based, large animal detection system (LADS) and a sensor-based illumination system.
The spokesman said a meeting has also been planned with the newly appointed general manager of railways.
According to him, WNPS last year agreed to secure an LDADS developed in Canada. But the railways GM was changed in August 2025, and the programme was halted.
Professor Lilantha Samaranayake, who developed an infrared camera that uses AI to detect elephant intrusions onto railway tracks, said that trials had been done on the eastern railway line.
“The field tests were done; the accuracy of the optical camera is maximised. The device could have been used since 2021. It is up to the railways to use it,” he said.
He said that the authorities lack consistency with the change of officials. The projects that they work on remain unimplemented or are idling. He urged the railways to implement a solution given to them or to find their own.
Railway authorities said that the night train operations in the northern, Trincomalee and Batticaloa lines were halted after the Dithwa cyclone.
Railways General Manager Ravindra Pathmapriya said the northern and eastern lines have to be improved in a month at least.
“We are allowing train operations in the daytime, as the drivers can proceed with caution so the restored tracks will not cause complications. If trains travelled at night and an accident happened, the safety of passengers would be compromised and passengers would be stranded,’’ he said.
He admitted that train collisions with elephants should be resolved, and the Railways Department is at the receiving end of criticisms. But according to him, the efficiency of the railway had also been compromised, as locomotive drivers were forced to move at 20 kilometres per hour instead of 100 km/h.
He said the Department of Wildlife should prevent elephants from crossing the track.
Mr Pathmapriya called on inventors to present their ideas as well as devices. Reliable and practical devices that are affordable will be accepted.
He also stipulated that a device should be approved by the DWC, as the issue is regarding wildlife; therefore, the information regarding elephant detection would be given to them through the department, which is responsible.
Mr Marasinghe of the DWC said the priority will be acting against elephants being killed from shooting and electrocution, as well as ingesting hakka patas, as the elephant death toll from these causes is greater than the number of elephants killed due to train accidents.
The development of IT devices is not its mandate. The DWT approves research projects allowing devices to be tested to reduce accidents.
The Sunday Times observed that the Department of Wildlife as well as Sri Lanka Railways do have different opinions. Railways sees the elephants venturing across tracks as a matter which should be controlled by DWC, while the DWC believes both railways and themselves, as well as respective ministries, should work together to find solutions for the issue.
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