New figures released by Network Rail reveal that animals trespassed 1,432 times in the 12 months to 31 March 2024 ranging from deer at one end of the scale to bees, a donkey, mice, hedgehogs and even a now, well-known tortoise. But by far the worst offender are people with over 19,300 incidents – one every half-an-hour.
Our deer-est pals who tend to live in high numbers across rural, forested areas, which are commonly found alongside the railway[i] ranked first place, with almost 350 incidents over the year.
Baaa-rt not far behind, were our woolly friends – sheep – in second place with 177 incidents. Ruffling the train schedule feathers, birds and swans in third (172) and fifth place (143) respectively. While moo-ving into fourth place were cows with 156 recorded incidents.
Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s operations chief, said:
“Trespassing on the railway is a serious offence that causes delays to thousands of trains every year and can be very costly for people – causing death and life changing injuries due to the railways many hidden dangers. This summer, when we see trespass at its peak our message is clear whoever you are: child, adult, dog walker, holiday maker or beast – stay off the tracks.”
Other dastardly villains included dogs (135), cats (107), badgers (55), foxes (42) and in tenth place, pigs (38). While some of the more unexpected visitors have included bees, mice, hedgehogs and even a llama and a tortoise.
