Escaped Giant Tortoise Halts Trains For Two Hours In UK

A giant tortoise that became stuck on train tracks caused a nearly two-hour in Norfolk, in the United Kingdom, on Monday. Greater Anglia, the rail company, informed commuters about the delay between the city of Norwich and Stansted Airport due to the wayward tortoise. In a tweet, Greater Anglia said that the train was blocked due to "animals on the railway". The presence of the animal was confirmed by a Twitter user who posted its photo on the micro-blogging website.

14:48 Stansted Airport to Norwich (15.37 Ely) will be started from Cambridge.

It will no longer call at Stansted Airport, Audley End and Whittlesford Parkway.

This is due to animals on the railway.

— Greater Anglia (@greateranglia) August 1, 2022

The user, Diane Akers, posted a photo of the tortoise on the tracks just after noon tagging Greater Anglia. "There is a giant tortoise on the line past Eccles Road going away from Norwich it's still alive but injured," she said on her tweet.

The photo tweeted by Ms Akers showed a large gash on the shell of the tortoise.

@greateranglia There is a giant tortoise on the line past Eccles Road going away from Norwich it's still alive but injured pic.twitter.com/jxX14Nx60P

— Diane Akers (@di_akers_) August 1, 2022

She later followed it up with another tweet, saying she will check about the condition of the tortoise. The traveler then got a response from Greater Anglia customer adviser, who said that the animal received medical attention and is going to recover fully.

"Hi Diane. We have been informed by the specialist team that the tortoise is expected to make a full recovery," Greater Anglia tweeted in response to Ms Akers.

The BBC said in a report that the tortoise is named Clyde and went missing from Swallow Aquatics in East Harling on Sunday. The tortoise was taken to a veterinarian as it was hit by a train, the outlet further said.

After the track was opened, there were delays throughout the rest of the day due to the incident.