Tortoise trespasses onto railway track near London, gets a free train ride

A commuter train running between Ascot and Aldershot, two suburbs of London, was recently delayed due to an unusual trespasser on the railway track. The Network Rail Wessex train was briefly caught up on the tracks on Friday, July 19, after a runaway tortoise got on it.

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Slow-moving trespasser holds up train

The train's loco-pilot spotted the slow-moving trespasser on the tracks and applied brakes before hitting the reptile. However, as the tortoise was in no hurry and crawled at its normal pace through the track, the train had to wait. The tortoise's slow adventure on the railway tracks ended after railway engineers intervened and took it off the line.

Also read: Giant Tortoises Ruled Indian Ocean Islands Long Before Humans Surfaced

Gets a train ride

The tortoise was then given a free ride on the next train to Ascot, where they planned to hand over the reptile to a vet. But by this time, the owner of the tortoise managed to identify its location and claimed it back.

Network Rail Wessex

According to its owner, the tortoise, named Solomon, had escaped from his house and somehow managed to get on the tracks.

Trespasser of an unusual nature

Network Rail Wessex took to social media and narrated how the tortoise caused a minor disruption to its service. "There was a trespasser of an unusual nature on the tracks at Ascot as an escaped tortoise called Solomon was moving ¡®at pace¡¯ (according to the incident report) towards Bagshot," the train operator said.

Network Rail Wessex also shared a photo of the tortoise riding the train, saying, "getting the shellebrity onto the train to bring it into the station." They also apologized to passengers for the delay.

Also read: In a first, 10 Endangered Asian Giant Tortoise Rewilded In Nagaland¡¯s Protected Forest

Network Rail Wessex

"We are sorry to any passengers who were disrupted during this incident. While we are delighted that this story has a happy ending and can reassure passengers that our 'everyone home safe, every day' ambitions extend to pets, we must remind everyone that the railway is dangerous," it said.

While the episode was incident-free, Network Rail Wessex urged those living close to railway lines to ensure that their fencing is secure to prevent human or animal incursions onto the track.

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