By: Melissa Zhao

A runaway tortoise held up many trains after being spotted on train tracks on Friday, July 19. After escaping from his home the tortoise managed to find his way to the train station. The tortoise, named Solomon, caused delays across four major services, wreaking havoc on the English transportation system. He was found calmly making his way to his destination on train tracks between Ascot and Bagshot.

Eventually, Solomon was caught by engineers who arranged to take him to a vet, that is until Solomon’s owner stepped forward and claimed the unusual trespasser as his own. “Teams arranged for the next train heading into Ascot from Aldershot to stop shortly to allow the tortoise to be rescued, getting the shellebrity onto the train to bring it into the station,” according to a report done after the event.

Throughout the incident, the tortoise had not been harmed, and was completely fine as he returned to his home. Apparently, the owner’s house is near the station, and the tortoise had somehow managed to escape through a gap in the fence before making his way to the rail lines.

In the incident, many people were disrupted by the tortoise on the rail lines, with major services coming to a stop because Solomon was in the middle of the tracks, preventing the trains from continuing. They were unable to move on their way until Solomon was rescued and returned.

He had been calmly crawling toward Bagshot before being rescued and safely moved out of the way of waiting trains. It was an interesting sight, with a tortoise happily crawling on his way toward where he wanted to go, while trains came to a stop because of him.

Though Solomon safely made it out of the incident unharmed and was rescued in time, it has been advised for people to keep a watchful eye on their pets, in case something like what happened to Solomon happens again.

Article Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c728rn880d7o

Image Credit by James Wheeler