Kitten Stops Train

A kitten has stopped a train, inconveniencing 23,000 commuters and inciting both criticism and approval.

The incident occurred at 7AM on the JR Keihin Tohoku line, when a conductor on a 10 carriage commuter service bound for Ohmiya reported hearing “the cries of a cat under the floor.”

The train was stopped, and further investigation revealed a 20cm long black kitten under the train, which was taken into custody. The kitten was uninjured.

The incident resulted in a 22 minute delay, with service resuming at 7:30AM. JR estimates 15 trains were delayed, affecting some 23,000 people.

The delay was reported on station signage as “a kitty stopped the train!”

On Twitter the incident caused a minor sensation, and the reaction was largely approving – “if it’s a kitten it can’t be helped,” “I can forgive this,” “this healed me,” etc.

Cat loving 2ch is also approving of the delay:

“I forgave them!”

“If it’s a kitten it can’t be helped.”

“Forgiven!”

“Besides, an accident caused by a cat wouldn’t be good.”

“Right. More important than the life of the cat, what if it had been minced and dirtied the rails, causing an accident? Idiots criticising this are basically saying to kill people.”

“This all means the conductor who stopped the train will likely encounter a cute nekomimi girl when he returns home, and she’ll put out for him.”

“Right, there was a manga like that in Megastore recently!”