Evening commuters at Warszawa Centralna, Poland's busiest railway station, got an unscheduled wildlife encounter on Sunday when a moose wandered onto the tracks and brought platforms 3 and 4 to a standstill for more than 80 minutes.
According to Notes from Poland, the animal first appeared on a platform before dropping onto the tracks and running along the line, prompting Polish Railway Lines (PLK) to suspend, cancel and divert several services out of the mostly underground station. Officers cordoned off the area while emergency crews worked out how to remove an animal that can weigh several hundred kilograms from one of Europe's busiest rail hubs.
A tranquilizer and a bedsheet
Responders eventually sedated the moose, hoisted it onto a large sheet and carried it out before loading it onto a specialist vehicle for the drive back to open woodland. PLK, which nicknamed the animal Emil, confirmed the situation was resolved and normal service restored, though officials said they still do not know how a moose made its way into an underground station in the heart of the capital.
The animal had been safely removed and that normal train services were being restored.
Polish Railway Lines (PLK)
Reporting from UPI's Odd News desk and TVP World noted the episode is less freakish than it sounds: several hundred moose live in the nearby Kampinos National Park, and Poland's moose population has rebounded sharply since a 2001 hunting moratorium, climbing to an estimated 30,000 animals by 2019. Stray moose have turned up on highways and rail lines before, but rarely inside a major transit hub.
Video shared on social media showed startled passengers filming from a safe distance as the animal loped along the platform edge before responders moved in. No injuries were reported among staff, passengers or the moose itself, and PLK said delayed services were running close to schedule again by Sunday night.