Inter-city kitty: Injured cat survives 1,667 miles trapped underneath train

17 Jan 2013 00:00

The wounded tabby managed to sneak inside a sealed unit under the front carriage of a high-speed express

An injured inter-city kitty has survived a 1,667-mile journey trapped in a train’s undercarriage.

Two-year-old Polly is believed to have broken her left front leg while hunting rats in a rail shunting depot near her home in Plymouth.

The wounded tabby then managed to sneak inside a sealed unit under the front carriage of a high-speed express.

Terrified Polly was still on board when the 06.51am left Plymouth last Thursday and travelled to London Paddington and Swansea twice, then stopped for the night in Bristol.

Next day the train called at Worcester, Oxford, Paddington and Swansea.

After a return trip to London it left Paddington at 19.03pm, bound for Plymouth then its final destination of Penzance in Cornwall.

Starting point: Plymouth railway station

Polly was only found after train manager Emily Mahoney-Smith heard a “miaow” on the Plymouth stop.

Hug: Polly is safe with vet Jenny

An injured inter-city kitty has survived a 1,667-mile journey trapped in a train’s undercarriage.

Two-year-old Polly is believed to have broken her left front leg while hunting rats in a rail shunting depot near her home in Plymouth.

The wounded tabby then managed to sneak inside a sealed unit under the front carriage of a high-speed express.

Terrified Polly was still on board when the 06.51am left Plymouth last Thursday and travelled to London Paddington and Swansea twice, then stopped for the night in Bristol.

Next day the train called at Worcester, Oxford, Paddington and Swansea.

After a return trip to London it left Paddington at 19.03pm, bound for Plymouth then its final destination of Penzance in Cornwall.

Polly was only found after train manager Emily Mahoney-Smith heard a “miaow” on the Plymouth stop.

Matthew, 34, said: “The train staff brought the cat to my surgery.

"She had a very nasty leg fracture which was easily four or five days old by the time we operated.

"So it’s extremely possible she was stuck on the train for several days.”

Polly’s leg had to be amputated – but she is now recovering from her ordeal.

Her owners – retired train driver Arthur Westington, 84, and his wife Louisa, 82– were traced through her microchip.

Louisa said: “We thought she’d gone for good. She has now seen more of the country than us.”

Train operators First Great Western said: “That unit isn’t accessible from a normal station stop – so the latest the cat could have stowed away would have been at Plymouth where the train started service.

"We’ve calculated she did at least 1,667 miles.”