Trains to slow down while passing through Rajaji Tiger Reserve

Trains along the 18-km Haridwar-Rishikesh-Dehradun rail route that goes through the heart of Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) will have to lower their speed for the safety of wild animals.

Trains passing through the section, which is notoriously called the “killer track” with 25 elephants knocked down by speeding trains along the line in the last 25 years, will have to lower their speed to 40 kmph during daytime and 35 kmph from 6 in the evening to 6 am, RTR Director Sanatan Sonkar said.

The decision was taken at a meeting between the head of the state forest force Jairaj and Additional Divisional Railway Manager Moradabad Sharad Kumar, Sonkar said.

The rail track passes through Haridwar, Motichur and Kansrau ranges of RTR, he said.