After wandering onto the tracks during the morning rush hour in Surrey, trains were delayed.
A swan was seen on the railway line on Monday morning, which caused rush hour trains to be delayed for approximately an hour.
The bird was found on the tracks in Staines, Surrey, at about 8 am, stopping trains through the area towards Ascot in Berkshire.
South Western Railway’s Twitter account joked that “our very own Sgt Angel” dealt with the swan – a reference to the 2007 police comedy Hot Fuzz.
The film has a scene where Simon Pegg’s character Nicholas Angel and his partner chase an escaped swan through the town.
Network Rail’s Wessex route posted an image on its Twitter account showing the animal being carried in a bag.
“If you swan around on the railway, you get The Bag,” it said.
If you swan around on the railway, you get The Bag.
Thanks to our ops manager Chris for helping this feathered friend safely from the line at #Staines and to @SW_Help customers who had to wait for us to arrive.
The swan is off to a sanctuary to relax. pic.twitter.com/LI8kZnIlqt— Network Rail Wessex (@NetworkRailWssx) October 3, 2022
Some affected passengers in Staines were not amused, with one tweeting: “Stuck on the bridge between Staines and Egham because ‘a swan is sitting on train tracks’… 50 minutes now passed. Can someone come and move the bird.”