Cat on a fast train roof holds up London to Manchester service

You hear about delays from leaves on the line, maybe even the occasional swan, but on Tuesday evening a cat was discovered on a train roof at London Euston station – a whisker away from hitching a 125mph ride up north.

The tabby was spotted curled up on top of an Avanti West Coast train about half an hour before it was due to depart for Manchester at 9pm and refused to move.

Passengers were transferred to a replacement train with only a slight delay and the train was taken out of service so staff could coax the cat down from its precarious perch, where it was perilously close to the 25,000 volt overhead lines.

After a two and a half hours, the standoff came to an end when a bin was pulled up beside the carriage, giving the animal a platform on which to disembark.

The feline appeared unbothered as it alighted the train, according to station staff, who described it as “swaggering off” into the night as though it had other places to be. It is still not known how the cat reached the top of the train in the first place.

“We often have to deal with birds inside the station but in all my time here this is the first train surfing cat!” said Joe Hendry, Network Rail station manager for Euston. “Thankfully curiosity didn’t kill this cat and we’re glad it avoided using up one of its nine lives.”