‘Stranded’ cygnets rescued by railway workers

Two baby swans have been rescued by Network Rail workers after losing their mother and wandering onto train tracks.
(Network Rail/RSPCA)
Emily Chudy18 October 2021

Two baby swans have been rescued by Network Rail staff after wandering onto train tracks.

The cygnets were spotted on Thursday by a member of the public, who then alerted staff workers Steve Brough and Daniel Deaville.

The pair managed to catch the birds and reunited one with its mother in a nearby lake at Bathpool Park near Kidsgrove, Staffordshire while the other was treated for an injured wing by the RSPCA.

“These stranded cygnets were obviously distressed having not only lost their mother but strayed into a dangerous and loud environment,” said Steve Brough, works delivery technician at Network Rail.

“It must have been really scary for both of them. We’re really glad to have got them safely away from harm.”

(Network Rail/RSPCA)

RSPCA inspector Jackie Hickman said: “The men were absolutely fantastic and went above and beyond for animal welfare.

“Both of the cygnets were angry and hissing quite a lot, but they managed to capture them safely and calmly and get them off the line.

“They stayed for a long time, late on a Thursday night to do this, and we would like to thank them for the enormous care and dedication they showed.”

Network Rail explained that anyone who sees an animal on train tracks is advised to call them, and never walk on the railway.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in