Late morning rail commuters going from New Jersey to New York City experienced a wild transit delay on Thursday: a bull was loose on the train tracks.
First reports of the bull came around 10.30am local time at Newark Penn Station, when the bull was seen walking on the tracks through the station.
The bull was eventually corralled inside a fenced lot near Newark Liberty international airport. Newark officials told ABC7 that the bull was tranquilized so it could be taken to a local animal sanctuary.
New Jersey Transit posted a rather humorous tweet on X, noting that there were delays of up to 45 minutes between Newark Penn Station and Penn Station New York due to the police activity.
NJ TRANSIT rail service is subject to up to 45 minute delays between Newark Penn and PSNY, due to Police activity near Newark Penn Station. NJ TRANSIT rail tickets and passes are being cross-honored by PATH and Hoboken, Newark Penn and 33rd Street New York.
— NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) December 14, 2023
Police activity: pic.twitter.com/XrtIEK5ZGH
A spokesperson for the Newark police department said in a statement: “Per Newark public safety director Fritz Fragé, at approximately 10.46am today, Thursday, December 14, 2023, police responded to Frelinghuysen Avenue near Victoria Street on a call that a bull was observed loose behind a building. Members of the Newark Police Emergency Services Unit assisted Port Authority PD in locating the animal and contained it inside a fenced lot without incident. The animal will be retrieved and safeguarded by a local animal sanctuary. No injuries have been reported. No further information is available.”
Oddly enough, New Jersey Transit is hardly the only off-kilter place where bulls have roamed. In August, a Watusi bull named Howdy Doody was seen riding shotgun in a vehicle in Norfolk, Nebraska.
Capt Chad Reiman told News Channel North-East Nebraska that police issued the driver a warning and asked that he “take the animal back home and leave the city”.
The driver, who had a car that seemed to be customized to fit a bull as a passenger, reportedly did.
