Railway stampede leaves five cows dead

1:48pm Tuesday 30th September 2008

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Five cows died after stampeding onto the electric rail of a set of train tracks, causing hours of cancellations and delays.

The animals were part a herd which panicked while being led across a level crossing close to Southease station, near Newhaven, at 9.15am.

They stampeded onto the tracks and the five were electrocuted as they made contact with the high voltage rail.

A spokesman for Network Rail, which is in charge of maintaining the tracks, said: "At the moment we don't know exactly what happened. Clearly something spooked the cows, although we don't know what, and they ran off. It was a very unfortunate incident."

He said the farmer who was with the animals had pre-arranged to take the herd across the crossing, following Network Rail's regular procedures.

Rail services on the line between Lewes and Newhaven were suspended by operator Southern Railway as soon as the farmer raised the emergency call and replacement bus services were put in place.

The electric supply to the line was shut down. Trains between Brighton and Eastbourne were also disrupted while Network Rail mounted an operation to remove the dead animals from the tracks using 4x4 vehicles.

It was almost five hours before the line was returned to use at 2.20pm.

Network Rail said there had been no permanent damage to the railway line.

Has your journey been disrupted by the situation? Post your comments below.

Has your journey been disrupted by the situation? Post your comments below.