The movement of trains along a stretch of the Dooars railway tracks came to a halt for around 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon to let a herd of around 25 elephants cross the tracks.

Sources said that the elephant herd had recently moved into the contiguous forest areas of Bhutan. However, on Saturday morning, the elephants returned from Bhutan and walked into the Diana tea estate in Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri.

Seeing the herd, tea workers in the garden panicked. Also, some of the elephants started roaming around in the tea garden in search of fodder. Foresters were informed and teams from the Gorumara wildlife division reached the spot.

They burst crackers and brought the elephants together.

However, to ensure that the elephants safely reached the reserve forest area, the foresters communicated with the railway officials to halt the movement of trains between Nagrakata and Caron stations.

Around 2.30pm, the railway officials confirmed that no trains would move between these two stations. Eventually, foresters could make the elephant herd cross the railway tracks near the Diana river bridge which is around 65km from Jalpaiguri.

“The herd safely entered the Diana forest, much to our relief. We then informed the railways. After around half an hour, the train movement resumed along the route,” said a forester.

The Dooars railway route runs through a number of reserve forests, including wildlife sanctuaries and the Buxa Tiger Reserve.

Elephants often cross the tracks to move into different forests, often at great risk of being mowed down by trains.

In many locations, loco pilots have also averted such accidents by halting trains or by slowing down trains after spotting the activities of elephants along the railway tracks.