Seven elephants were killed and one was critically injured on December 8, 2025, when a passenger train struck a herd crossing the railway track in the Hojai district of Assam. The incident, which occurred in the early hours, highlighted the acute and long-standing conflict between railway expansion and wildlife corridors in northeastern India. Assam is home to the largest population of wild Asian elephants in India — over 5,000 — and the state's dense forest zones, which serve as critical elephant corridors, are increasingly bisected by railway lines. This was not an isolated incident: the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) data show that train collisions are among the leading causes of elephant deaths in India, particularly in Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. The Railways Ministry has previously been directed by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to reduce speed limits in identified wildlife corridors, install sensors and alert systems, and coordinate with forest departments. However, enforcement has remained inconsistent. Conservationists renewed calls for mandatory environmental impact assessments for all railway expansion projects in ecologically sensitive zones under the Forest Conservation Act and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The incident also brought attention to the ongoing demand for a comprehensive National Elephant Corridor Policy.