An escaped pet tortoise was rescued from the railroad tracks in Runcorn, England. Photo courtesy of Andy Taylor/Avanti West Coast
Aug. 4 (UPI) — Railway operators teamed up in England to rescue a “trespassing tortoise” spotted wandering on the tracks near a station.
Train operating company Avanti West Coast, which appropriately has a turtle named Turbo as its mascot, said a passenger waiting on the platform at Runcorn spotted a tortoise next to the tracks near the station and reported it to officials.
Avanti coordinated with Network Rail to shut down train services at the station temporarily while a rescue plan was put into place.
The rescue took about 10 minutes, and normal operations then resumed.
The tortoise, estimated to be about 50 years old, was taken to a local rescue center, where the runaway pet was later reunited with its owner.
“After receiving reports of a slow-moving trespasser on the tracks, our team at Runcorn worked with Network Rail to carry out a safe rescue. Even our mascot, Turbo, came out of his shell to keep the unexpected visitor company on the journey to a local rescue center,” said Kathryn O’Brien, customer experience director at Avanti West Coast.
“We’re proud of the team’s swift actions, which helped bring the tortoise to safety while keeping disruption to customers’ journeys to a minimum. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, the tortoise has now been safely reunited with its owner. We’d also like to thank our customers for their patience while we assisted a trespasser who was in no hurry to pick up the pace.”
Ross Davies, Network Rail North West Network operations director, also praised the rescuers.
“While there was initial shell shock in our control room when we first got the call about a trespassing tortoise, there was nothing slow and steady with our response during our joint race with Avanti to make this highly unusual reptile rescue,” he said.
“Thankfully trains were only stopped for 10 minutes so passengers could hare it to their destinations, and it’s cracking to know this plucky pet is now safe and sound back with its owner after its brush with danger on the West Coast Main Line.”