ElanRail brings Blue Sentinel, its wildlife collision prevention system, to European railways
cross Europe, growing populations of large mammals such as wild boar, red deer and roe deer are increasing the risk of wildlife collisions on railway networks.
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In France alone, wildlife collisions delayed or cancelled more than 5,000 trains in 2024, at an average cost of €100,000 per incident. Blue Sentinel shifts the response from reactive to proactive, from enduring collisions to preventing them. Already deployed across six regions in France, this collision prevention system deters
wildlife only when a train is approaching. The success of its rollout with SNCF Réseau and its proven industrial model make Blue Sentinel ready to be deployed across European railways, aiming to become the go-to solution for wildlife collision prevention.
Wildlife collisions: why passive solutions are no longer enough
Railway networks run through natural areas where wild boar, deer, and other wildlife roam freely.
When a collision occurs, the consequences extend far beyond the impact on wildlife: cascading delays, rolling stock damage and downtime, maintenance operations, passenger refunds and service disruption.
Historically, responses have relied mainly on passive measures such as installing fences and barriers to prevent animals from crossing the tracks. But these measures are costly, complicated to install, and pose a real threat to ecological connectivity.
Blue Sentinel helps keep train traffic running while allowing wildlife to roam free in their natural habitat.
How Blue Sentinel keeps trains running and wildlife safe
The main goal of Blue Sentinel is to prevent collisions by alerting wildlife that danger is approaching, at the right time and in the right place.
First, the detection beacon senses an approaching train.
Then alert beacons trigger audio and light signals to drive wildlife off the tracks. These solar-powered beacons can be installed in identified hotspots across several kilometres along the tracks.
Blue Sentinel easily adapts to the requirements of European railway networks. It can be configured remotely and includes a diverse sound library. The beacons can be deployed rapidly in a wide range of environments with no additional civil engineering required and no service disruption.
From France to Europe: a tried and tested model ready to scale
Blue Sentinel goes well beyond proof of concept, it is already operational at scale. Co-developed over two years with SNCF Réseau Pays de la Loire (the infrastructure manager for the national rail network), Blue Sentinel reduced wildlife collisions by 90% during its first pilot phase in 2024.
Now active at 10 sites across six regions, Blue Sentinel has already protected more than 200,000 train passages. It has been deployed across various landscapes and for different wildlife species.
This success is backed by the industrial track record of ElanCity, ElanRail's parent company. With 20 years of road safety expertise and over 60,000 products implemented in 50 countries, ElanCity provides ElanRail with the industrial foundation to scale rapidly across Europe.
" Blue Sentinel has proven itself. We now have the industrial maturity and field-proven results to become the trusted partner for European rail infrastructure managers and operators — and to protect their infrastructure, passengers and wildlife together," says Michaël Rublon, Director of ElanRail.
About ElanRail
Created in 2025 to address the specific challenges of the railway sector, ElanRail is a parent company of French industrial firm ElanCity. Based in Loire-Atlantique, the company designs, manufactures and markets solar-powered technology systems for wildlife collision prevention on railway infrastructure, in France and worldwide. ElanCity was awarded the Grand Prix Europe 2026 at the International Challenges – Capital Export Awards, in recognition of its international growth trajectory and export performance.
Specialising in dynamic wildlife collision prevention, ElanRail provides rail infrastructure managers and operators with Blue Sentinel: a self-powered, easy-to-install system deployed lineside that significantly reduces wildlife collisions and deters animals from the track as trains pass.
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