OREANDA-NEWS. Brian Harris, a mobile operations manager at Network Rail’s Knottingley depot, came across his new feathered friend after it crash landed on the railway near Wakefield.

After making the swan comfortable by wrapping it in his fleece and carrying the stricken bird half a mile back to his van, Brian contacted Yorkshire Swan and Wildlife Rescue who found injuries to both its legs and wings as a result of the crash landing – but nothing life threatening.

The swan was given a clean bill of health and was released back into the wild over the weekend.

Dan Sidley, founder of Yorkshire Swan and Wildlife Rescue said: “After time spent in one of our intensive care pens, the bird was soon healthy enough to be transferred to our outside rehabilitation paddock.”

"We are extremely grateful to Network Rail staff for their intervention in ensuring this swan was taken to a place of safety where it could be saved."

About Network Rail
Network Rail owns, manages and develops Britain's railway - the 20,000 miles of track, 40,000 bridges and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations (the largest of which we also run). In partnership with train operators we help people take more than 1.65bn journeys by rail every year and move hundreds of millions of tonnes of freight, saving almost 8m lorry journeys. We employ 36,000 people across Britain and work round-the-clock, each and every day, to provide a safe, reliable railway.