Friday 9 Apr 2021
Sheep put themselves in shear danger taking a short-cut on busy Cambridgeshire rail line
- Region & Route:
- Eastern: Anglia
Network Rail staff were called out to Queen Adelaide village in Ely on Wednesday 7 April at 9:45am after reports of sheep making a wrong turning at the level crossing and taking a short-cut down the Ely to Peterborough rail line.
The crossing on the B1382 Ely Road, typically sees up to 4297 vehicles and 136 pedestrians a day, while the rail line is used by up to 171 passenger and freight trains a day. However, on Wednesday morning, five sheep also used the line, travelling much slower than the usual speed of 60mph.
Network Rail’s mobile operations manager, Scott Turner and section manager, Shaun Sands, carried out a ‘lambush’, and successfully herded the sheep from the track before they came to any harm and caused any further delays.
Scott said, “Although the details were a bit woolly at first, I can see that this was a clear case of level crossing mis-ewes. We escorted the sheep to a nearby field and I am pleased to say they were unharmed.”
Anyone using a level crossing should stop, look and listen, and wait for the baa-riers to rise before crossing.
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Network Rail press office - Katie Mack
Media relations manager (Anglia route)
0330 8577 132
Katie.Mack@networkrail.co.uk
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