For anyone interested, this happened in 2021, as reported on by The Guardian.
After a two and a half hours, the standoff came to an end when a bin was pulled up beside the carriage, giving the animal a platform on which to disembark.
The feline appeared unbothered as it alighted the train, according to station staff, who described it as “swaggering off” into the night as though it had other places to be.
As Denmark’s queen abdicated and Frederik X became (hopefully our last) king, I was forwarding this in the family group chat with the comment “more important things are also happening in the world right now”
Imagine having to call your boss and tell them you’re late for work because of some random cat.
Genuine question: why don’t they just start the train? Best case, the cat jumps off. Worst case, it dies but the train continues. Is there something else? Is the presence of the cat on the roof a safety issue?
Edit: I’m asking from the train operator’s perspective. Obviously we want the cat to be safe and well, but a train company with a timetable doesn’t care about that, so I wondered what’s actually stopping them from just starting the train and potentially killing the cat.
Even if killing cats for any reason, either deliberately or accidentally, is legal in the UK there are still two potential problems with starting the train: Terrible PR when the story gets out and opening your company up to potential civil litigation from the cat’s human as well as anyone else traumatised actually witnessing or contractually obliged to participate in (e.g. Driver) said death of cat. In summary, your brand takes a hit and you may lose money. As an added bonus a late train is less newsworthy in the UK than a funny cat so by delaying the train you might even generate good PR at no cost.
Those are all fair points. Still unfortunate that it’s still down to money even in your explanation, but it makes sense.
Yeah because them killing the cat is going to play sooo well for their reputation.
I just really don’t think that they would care. It’s easier to spin it as, “We didn’t know the cat was there, what a tragedy” than to appease all the passengers who are now late and frustrated.
Why do you hate train drivers so much!?
A small delay for a single train, on a network of thousands, is not enough for the “evil train company” employees, that you seem to think that they all for some reason.
The world isn’t quite as black and white as you seem to believe it is!
So you think it’s acceptable to kill an animal so people aren’t late?
Should the cat know better? I’m not sure cats comprehend timetables.
No, I don’t think it’s acceptable. But my question wasn’t about me, nor about ethics. There’s no way a train operator with a timetable cares about animal well-being or any other question of ethics. I’m curious what the real reason is.
Why on earth would a train operator care about timetables over basic ethics? They are human beings, not robots, you know?
The controller and driver both get paid either way, and I’m sure the train driver is used getting home late on occasion - and I expect they get overtime pay, so he may well be laughing anyway.
And the controller, or whatever they’re called, will just be seeing it as a PR issue. The slight lost money on the refunds (that passengers actually bother to put through) is easily worth the good PR.
Edit: Missed random words, impatient brain running too fast for fingers.
My assumption is our laws don’t allow endangering animals, so perhaps they don’t care from a moral standpoint but they will care about repercussions from the law and also the optics of it.
Also, if you’ve never been on Uk trains, we don’t need a reason for them being late. They’re oft late.
This could lead to traumatized customers and a bad image as heartless company.
(or be a total win if the cat stays on top and became the new mascot; but guess they don’t want to take the risk)
For crying out loud, throw water at it.
