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Injured cat left on a Kidderminster railway for four hours (From Kidderminster Shuttle)
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Injured cat left on a Kidderminster railway for four hours
7:30am Thursday 13th September 2012 in Local
AN injured cat which was left for nearly four hours on a railway track after being hit by a train in Kidderminster has prompted an investigation by Network Rail.
Onlookers were “disgusted” that the white cat was left suffering on the railway track by Offmore Road after his leg had been amputated by a passing train.
Network Rail apologised for not acting sooner.
Margaret Carter, who first alerted the authorities, said: “I felt physically sick. Everybody was totally disgusted that nobody came to help. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Mrs Carter was first told about the cat by her husband John who was at the Railway Train pub.
She called West Mercia Police at 11.20am who said they would pass the message on to the British Transport Police (BTP).
The cat was still alive on the tracks when Mrs Carter left the pub at about 2.45pm.
It was not picked up until 3.15pm nearly four hours after authorities had first been alerted.
A spokesman for the BTP said: “West Mercia Police reported the incident to BTP at 11.31am and Network Rail was informed within ten minutes.
“BTP then received a further call from a member of the public at 2.17pm. Network Rail was again quickly notified with a manager due to attend.”
Mrs Carter, who has one dog, added: “The cat’s body was in one place and its leg in another. It was dying a slow death.
“We couldn’t go onto the tracks because of the trespassing fine.”
The RSPCA were alerted to the injured cat by Network Rail at 2.45pm and an officer attended the scene.
The cat was put down at Vale vets for welfare reasons.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We did receive a call at about 11.30am according to our incident log and we did not act for about three hours.
“I can only offer my sincere apologies. We will have an internal investigation to find out why there was a delay in our response.”
Comments(10)
edgeof17
says...
11:16am Thu 13 Sep 12
They would have acted and fined somebody quick enough if a passenger had pulled the emergency cord as a joke
I bet. They should be ashmed of themselves they took so long to act.
The rail service is a joke anyway. I have seen people get on trains without tickets...some get fined and some don't. I thought people who got on without tickets ALWAYS get fined.
suzie'Q'
says...
11:51am Thu 13 Sep 12
Sugar-Works
says...
2:59pm Thu 13 Sep 12
It is they who are at fault. Perhaps if you read the above you will understand as it is all laid out there for all to see.
genees
says...
5:35pm Thu 13 Sep 12
Frank Owen
says...
7:50pm Thu 13 Sep 12
Network Rail's nearest manager would be based at New St, some 15 miles away. An incident such as this would be low priority when taken in context with the myriad of other incidents that could be occurring on the network.
Presuming a manager was available immediately, they have to be trained to be able to go on to the track, you then have to consider that trains in both directions would have be stopped whilst people were on the track.
This could bring about delays that would last for a significant amount of time once the situation was resolved. This is a very important part of the equation.
Because of the way in which the rail industry operates, delays are attributed to either the train operator, maintenance contractors or NR. In this case, it would be NR that would have to foot the bill for the delays, and the bill rises at around £100 per minute! And a 10 minute delay can quickly mount into 100 minutes or more because it can impact onto so many different trains across a wide geographic area.....if train A delays train B, which in turn delays C, all of those resultant delays are billed to the "root cause" which in this case would end up with NR.
In years gone by, you would have had a team of Permanent Way staff responsible for that section of track, they would have been able to respond much quicker, but thanks to the privatisation of the rail network, you have a smaller P-Way dept with a much greater area to cover.
Gone are the days where they would each have to section to patrol everyday!
poetesslaureate
says...
7:55pm Thu 13 Sep 12
Cynical Sid
says...
10:18pm Thu 13 Sep 12
John Herbert Smith
says...
2:27pm Fri 14 Sep 12
5 years ago there was a decapitated cat on the track at Hartlebury station for SEVERAL MONTHS.
Plus there was a manned signal box opposite the cat.
As for "GENEES" - are you seriously suggesting that people risk their life by wandering onto a busy railway line? The stretch of line is on a curve, so trains - only just braking for Kidderminster will not be able to see you nor stop. Freight trains are also frequent on this stretch and will be travelling at 60 MPH. Irresponsible advice!
Bewdlnd
says...
8:43pm Fri 14 Sep 12
Frank Owen wrote:@Frank Owen: very balanced and knowledgable comment - thank you for that! I've learned something new.
Whilst it was no doubt very upsetting for people to witness, you need to understand the reality of the situation.
Network Rail's nearest manager would be based at New St, some 15 miles away. An incident such as this would be low priority when taken in context with the myriad of other incidents that could be occurring on the network.
Presuming a manager was available immediately, they have to be trained to be able to go on to the track, you then have to consider that trains in both directions would have be stopped whilst people were on the track.
This could bring about delays that would last for a significant amount of time once the situation was resolved. This is a very important part of the equation.
Because of the way in which the rail industry operates, delays are attributed to either the train operator, maintenance contractors or NR. In this case, it would be NR that would have to foot the bill for the delays, and the bill rises at around £100 per minute! And a 10 minute delay can quickly mount into 100 minutes or more because it can impact onto so many different trains across a wide geographic area.....if train A delays train B, which in turn delays C, all of those resultant delays are billed to the "root cause" which in this case would end up with NR.
In years gone by, you would have had a team of Permanent Way staff responsible for that section of track, they would have been able to respond much quicker, but thanks to the privatisation of the rail network, you have a smaller P-Way dept with a much greater area to cover.
Gone are the days where they would each have to section to patrol everyday!
poetesslaureate says...
9:32am Thu 13 Sep 12