A train in Britain was cancelled after an unusual pair of passengers—two squirrels—boarded the service, with one stubbornly refusing to leave, Great Western Railway (GWR) confirmed on Wednesday.
The disruption occurred on Saturday, impacting the 08:54 (0754 GMT) train from Reading to Gatwick Airport. Despite efforts by staff to remove the furry freeloaders at Redhill, Surrey, one squirrel refused to disembark, forcing the service to be terminated early.
The disruption occurred on Saturday, impacting the 08:54 (0754 GMT) train from Reading to Gatwick Airport. Despite efforts by staff to remove the furry freeloaders at Redhill, Surrey, one squirrel refused to disembark, forcing the service to be terminated early.
“We can confirm that the 0854 Reading to Gatwick was terminated at Redhill after a couple of squirrels boarded the train at Gomshall without tickets, breaching railway bye-laws,” a GWR spokesperson said. “We attempted to remove them at Redhill, but one refused to leave and was returned to Reading to bring an end to this nutty tail.”
While dogs are common passengers on British trains, rodents like squirrels are a rare sight. The Woodland Trust estimates the grey squirrel population in the UK at around 2.7 million, with numbers on the rise.