The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said it would consider increasing the speed of trains along the Dooars route once a system was installed on the tracks to prevent the death of wild animals.

The Dooars tracks, which connect Siliguri Junction with Alipurduar Junction, pass through a number of reserve forests and elephant crossing zones, including the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary and Buxa Tiger Reserve.

After the tracks were upgraded to broad gauge in 2004, over 80 elephants and some other animals died after being hit by trains.

To prevent such deaths, the NFR is installing the Intrusion Detection System (IDS) along the entire route. The system sends alerts if any animal reaches the tracks. Accordingly, loco pilots can control the speed of trains to avert a collision with animals.

Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, the general manager of the NFR, who was in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar on Tuesday, said the installation of the IDS had started and would be completed in six months or one year.

“The system would help us monitor the activities of wild animals and avert accidents. Once the system is in place, we will talk to the state forest department so that the speed of trains can be increased. Along stretches where trains run at 30kmph now, the speed can be increased to 50kmph. Trains’ speed can be increased to 70kmph along stretches where the maximum speed is 50kmph now,” he said.

The railway official said the electrification of the tracks was on in full swing. “After the tracks are electrified, the train speed will increase. That is why the installation of the device is important,” he added.

Raja Rauth, the secretary of the Jalpaiguri Science & Nature Club, said: “It is evident that the speed will increase after the installation of the IDS and the electrification. But the railways and the forest department should work in a coordinated manner to ensure that the increase in the speed doesn’t lead to a rise in the deaths of wild elephants.”

Shrivastava held a meeting with officials of the NFR’s Alipurduar division on Tuesday.

He said several stations in the division would be developed under the Amrit Bharat station scheme.

“Among them, three stations — Alipurduar Junction, New Cooch Behar and Rangpo in Sikkim — will be developed in a bigger way. Around Rs 200 crore will be spent on the infrastructure development of each of these stations,” he said.