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Northeast Railway Connectivity: Along with providing rail connectivity to the inaccessible and border areas of the North-East, Railways is now also emphasizing on dealing with natural and geographical challenges through modern technology. Chief Public Relations Officer of Northeast Frontier Railway, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, while interacting with the journalists from Uttar Pradesh, gave information about the development plans of the Railways and the technological innovations being done in the Northeast.

Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that along with the expansion and electrification of the rail network, modern technology is being used to deal with challenges like landslides in hilly areas, earthquakes, uncertainty of weather and movement of elephants on the railway tracks. He said that after the year 2014, work has been done on a large scale on expanding rail connectivity in the North-East and taking forward the pending projects.

He said that technology ranging from construction of tunnels to tracking tracks and detecting the movement of elephants is being used in inaccessible mountainous areas. Its objective is not only to provide better rail facilities to the passengers, but also to strengthen the economic development, tourism, trade and connectivity of the border areas of the North-East.

Improving speed and reliability in train operations

Along with the expansion of the rail network, continuous work is being done on the electrification of railway tracks. Northeast Frontier Railway had informed about uninterrupted electric railway operation till Dibrugarh and Naharlagun in the year 2025. This has helped in reducing the dependence on diesel along with improving the speed, punctuality and reliability of train operations.

Sensor-based technology is being used for the safety of elephants on the railway lines passing through the forests and forest areas of the North-East. Efforts are made to detect the movements of elephants and other large animals through cable based systems and pressure detection systems under the railway tracks. On receiving the signal, the train driver is alerted by sending information to the concerned level.

Techniques to deal with landslides and rains

Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that due to this technology and other safety measures, the incidents of train collision with elephants have reduced and only one such incident was reported last year.

He said that the geographical location of the North-East is challenging for railway construction and operation. Railways is using modern monitoring technologies to deal with situations like landslides, heavy rains and earthquakes. Work is being done to improve monitoring of the track and surrounding areas through eye and laser based systems.

Strong weather monitoring system

Construction of tunnels in mountainous areas is helping in making the railway route more safe and accessible. At the same time, to deal with the uncertainty of weather, Railways is strengthening the weather monitoring and early warning system, so that possible risks can be identified in time.

Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that the role of Railways in the North-East is not limited only to the movement of passengers. Better rail connectivity helps in connecting local markets to larger markets, facilitating movement of agricultural and local products, promoting tourism and strengthening employment opportunities.

Important role of Northeast Frontier Railway

In the media tour program organized under ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’, journalists from Uttar Pradesh understood the development work happening in the North-East at the ground level. During this, rail connectivity, new projects, electrification, passenger facilities, wildlife protection, railway construction in hilly areas and technologies being adopted to deal with natural disasters were discussed.

The role of North East Frontier Railway is becoming important in increasing rail connectivity in the region, making operations safe through modern technology and accelerating the economic and tourism development of the North East.