Tuesday 27 Aug 2019
A ‘round of a-paws’ for dog rescue track engineers
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
Bank holiday railway engineers turned dog rescuers after a wayward pooch found her way on to the tracks on the West Coast main line.
Asha the dog was spotted by Network Rail workers wandering on Europe's busiest mixed-use railway line at Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, on Bank Holiday Monday.
Ben Johnson, Network Rail track engineer, said: “When we spotted the dog we all downed tools to try to stop her running on to the slow lines, which still had trains moving on them.
“It took us about half an hour to catch her. She was scared at first cowering in a bush.
“Three of us sat around near her and coaxed her out. We stroked her, gave her a cuddle and managed to calm her down.
“The main thing is she’s safe and well. Her owner was really grateful, too.”
Asha was then returned to her relieved owner, David James, who’d been looking for her for several hours.
The dog rescue took place during work to replace track between Bletchley and Leighton Buzzard as part of Britain's Railway Upgrade Plan.
More than 2,700 railway engineers worked around the clock to improve the railway for passengers and freight customers in the North West & Central Region.
Passengers can check and plan their journeys at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
07740 782954
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk