As they waited for an unusual rescue along the tracks on Thursday morning, Metro-North Harlem Line passengers commuting south through the Bronx were stopped in their tracks.
The engineer of the 9:40 a.m. North White Plains to Grand Central Terminal train reported a cat near the rails at the Fordham station, according to the MTA. Meanwhile, a bystander who heard baby kitten meows coming from the tracks alerted the organisation, according to John DeBacker, vice president of Long Island Cat Kitten Solution, who told the Bronx Times that he was sent to the railway at Park Avenue and 188th Street in Belmont.
DeBacker claimed that when he got there, he made an attempt to speak with a worker about preventing any approaching train movement.
He continued, “We spoke to train conductors, but regrettably they couldn’t help.
Eventually, according to DeBacker, he and a companion were able to wave down a few adjacent MTA officers, who worked with them to temporarily block any train operation by cutting electricity to the Metro-North line. The line was only held up for around 10 minutes, according to the MTA, and there were no additional delays as a result of the event.
The white-and-orange-striped cat weighing less than three pounds was successfully removed from Track 4 by DeBacker and MTA officers.
DeBacker said that he had heard of kittens and cats ending up on train tracks, but this was his first such individual rescue.
