Cat on train tracks? 20 minutes to retrieve it, France says

Paris: In 2023, a departing train in Paris ran over a cat that had escaped from a traveller s bag, in a case that caused an uproar in France. Despi...

Paris: In 2023, a departing train in Paris ran over a cat that had escaped from a traveller's bag, in a case that caused an uproar in France.

Despite requests from the animal's owners to delay the departure and rescue the animal, the Paris-Bordeaux high-speed TGV train with 800 passengers on board left, slicing Neko the cat in two. France's national rail operator SNCF insisted at the time that the animal was "not visible."

After two years of deliberation SNCF has now issued clear rules.

If your pet escapes and falls onto the train tracks in France, a train can be delayed by a maximum of 20 minutes, according to the new protocol, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

The protocol "formalises practices that have always been in place in this type of situation and are applied with common sense and humanity by our staff," a spokesman for rail infrastructure management unit SNCF Reseau told AFP on Friday.