It was a cygnet failure.
A broken-hearted swan mourning his deceased partner reportedly stopped trains for almost an hour on a speed line in central Germany, according to reports.
The sad swan refused to leave the tracks for 50 minutes on Dec. 23 after his companion flew into the airspace above and died, the Guardian said.
According to Agence France-Presse, swans usually mate for life, making the death of the mate all the more devastating.
The grieving chicken, according to the French wire service, “sat next to the body and resisted attempts by officials to lure it away”. Twenty-three trains were consequently delayed.
Firefighters eventually captured the bird and released it into the Fulder River.