Train delayed after cat curls up on roof and refuses to come down
A London cat was a whisker away from taking a 200-mile trip up north after refusing to come down from the roof of a train for two-and-a-half hours.
The 125mph Avanti West Coast train service was delayed as the animal was spotted curled up on top half an hour before it was due to leave for Manchester at 8.30pm on Wednesday.
Staff said the cat was ‘wide-eyed and terrified’ as it perched perilously close to the 25,000 volt overhead lines which power the trains.
Cat-astrophe was avoided as the train was taken out of service and another was made available with minor delays to the service.
The feline was coaxed to safety when a bin was put beside the carriages to give it a makeshift platform to disembark.
The purr-petrator was seen ‘swaggering off with a sense of somewhere else to be’ after its 180-minute brush with danger, according to station staff.
Joe Hendry, Network Rail station manager for Euston, said: ‘We often have to deal with birds inside the station but in all my time here this is the first train surfing cat!
‘Thankfully curiosity didn’t kill this cat and we’re glad it avoided using up one of its nine lives thanks to the swift action of the station team and Avanti West Coast staff who organised for passengers to get onto a different train for the rescue to take place.’
Kathryn Pranga-Wells, lead station manager for Avanti West Coast, said: ‘The things some pets do to avoid lockdown.
‘Thankfully we managed to avoid a cat-astrophe but don’t ask me-ow the cat got up there.’
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