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Railway stampede leaves five cows dead
1:48pm Tuesday 30th September 2008
Comments (14)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.
Your Say YourThe Argus
feline1, Brighton says...
3:30pm Tue 30 Sep 08
My guess would be that they ate their way through a hedge and then became electrocuterized on the rails....
OR COULD IT HAVE BEEN ALIENS?
Charismatic Andrew, Patcham says...
3:30pm Tue 30 Sep 08
CARTMAN, BRIGHTON says...
4:18pm Tue 30 Sep 08
Charismatic Andrew wrote:Would give a whole new meaning to FOLLOWING THE HEARD? Hope the layed off city banks don't try this!
Sounds like a suicide pact to me. Perhaps they owned Bradford & Bingley shares?
feline1, Brighton says...
4:45pm Tue 30 Sep 08
CARTMAN wrote:it's spelt "HERD", dude...
Charismatic Andrew wrote:
Sounds like a suicide pact to me. Perhaps they owned Bradford & Bingley shares?Would give a whole new meaning to FOLLOWING THE HEARD? Hope the layed off city banks don't try this!
BBBrighton, Brighton says...
4:49pm Tue 30 Sep 08
CARTMAN, BRIGHTON says...
4:55pm Tue 30 Sep 08
feline1 wrote:Sorry, My spelling is almost as bad as the city bankers counting!
CARTMAN wrote:Charismatic Andrew wrote:Sounds like a suicide pact to me. Perhaps they owned Bradford & Bingley shares?Would give a whole new meaning to FOLLOWING THE HEARD? Hope the layed off city banks don't try this!it's spelt "HERD", dude...
Brigadier Monty, Burgess Hill says...
5:25pm Tue 30 Sep 08
getreal, Hove says...
5:51pm Tue 30 Sep 08
bertnz, brighton says...
11:39pm Tue 30 Sep 08
Harwoody, Newhaven says...
1:40pm Wed 1 Oct 08
Although it is funny to hear about the cows, it would have been nice to have had prior notice.
CornishSeagull, Truro says...
3:04pm Wed 1 Oct 08
Human Machine, Portslade says...
4:23pm Wed 1 Oct 08
6LXB, Worthing says...
5:33pm Wed 1 Oct 08
I gather that Southern brought back the 4-BIGs on the Seaford branch offering a selection of steaks and burgers in the afternoon.
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Pontop Pike, Redhill says...
2:06pm Tue 30 Sep 08