A bull ran through the train tracks in Newark Penn Station on Thursday morning, causing delays across several of New Jersey's transit lines, authorities said.
Videos and photos of the bull running through the station went viral on social media, as passengers captured the frenzied moment while facing 45 minute delays to their Amtrak, PATH train and New Jersey Transit commutes, according to posts on X from each of the train operators.
“We’re bullish on keeping you moving, but this situation was bull!” the PATH train wrote in a post on X, alongside a picture of the animal in the station.
NBC New York reporter Adam Harding captured photos of the bull being tied up and hauled into a police truck.
“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,” said Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé in a statement. “The animal will be retrieved and safeguarded by a local animal sanctuary.”
Chrishetce Robinson, who witnessed the incident, told NBC New York that police had to run around while trying to capture the bull to avoid its horns.
“It was amazing because I’ve never seen that in real life,” said Robinson. “I’ve finally seen a real bull instead of like on the Animal Planet channel. It was shocking.”
"Can't make this stuff up. Another day on the railroad," another passenger wrote on an Instagram post which shows the bull pausing on the tracks to look around.
Amtrak Northeast referred to the bull as "debris blocking the tracks" in their original post about lengthy train delays, causing some netizens to joke about how that "debris" has a name.
Police said an initial call about the bull was made just after 10:45 a.m. on Frelinghuysen Avenue near Victoria Street, when the bull was spotted behind a building.
There is a butcher shop and a livestock and poultry market on Victoria street, but neither could be reached for comment.
No injuries were reported, according to the Newark Public Safety Director.
This isn't the first time New Jersey residents had to wrangle a bull into place. In 2006, an urban cowboy from the farms of South Africa corralled and lassoed a 600-pound bull running loose in Newark. Then in 2017, a bull on the loose in Brooklyn's Prospect Park led police on a chase for hours.
