The South Eastern Railway (SER) temporarily suspended train operations for several hours in the early hours of November 1 to allow a herd of elephants to cross safely between the Bisra and Bondamunda divisions, the rail zone said on Sunday. The move, taken in close coordination with the Forest Department, affected 13 express and a number of other passenger and goods services.

“Train operations were suspended on the advice of forest field officials after they reported the movement of elephants near the railway track,” an SER statement said. Services on all lines between Bisra and Bondamunda were stopped from 00:10 hours. The down line was reopened at 02:30 with a temporary speed restriction of 30 km/h, and normal speeds were restored by 04:45 after field checks cleared the section.

Several named express services were detained during the suspension, including 12905 Shalimar–Shalimar SF Express, 12151 Samanta Express, 18190 Ernakulam–Tatanagar Express, 12809 Mumbai CSMT–Howrah Mail, and 12810 Howrah–Mumbai CSMT Mail, officials said.

A number of Up and special trains were also held until the track was declared safe.

The precaution follows a fatal accident in July this year on the Kharagpur–Tatanagar line near the Jhargram forest, when a train struck a herd of seven elephants, killing three. That incident drew criticism because it came despite claims that rail and forest authorities had enhanced real-time monitoring and coordination to prevent such collisions.

A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has noted the recurring nature of the problem: between 2014 and 2020, 13 elephants were killed on tracks under South Eastern Railway. Wildlife and rail officials have been under pressure to improve early-warning systems, fencing and coordinated patrolling along key elephant corridors.

SER said the suspension on November 1 was intended to prevent any untoward incident and to demonstrate the railways’ commitment to wildlife safety as well as operational safety. The zone added that it will continue to work with forest authorities to refine monitoring and response systems at known wildlife crossing points.