Bull on Newark Penn Tracks Causes NJ Transit Delays

That New Jersey Transit service was delayed was not all that unusual. The reason on Thursday, however, was something out of the wild, wild West. There was a bull — one with long horns, no less — on the tracks.

During the waning hours of the morning commute at Newark Penn Station, trains were stopped by the brown bull charging by the passenger platform.

When Javier Perez, 54, arrived at Penn Station around 10:30 a.m., he heard that there were delays caused by some sort of obstacle. He scanned the tracks and saw the bull ambling down the train line.

“I was like, ‘OK, that’s the obstruction,’” he said.

By noon, New Jersey Transit, the state agency that runs trains and buses, said the bull was off the tracks and that service had resumed after a 45-minute delay.

Ellie VandenBerg was waiting on the platform to transfer to a PATH train when she noticed a number of police officers running along the tracks — including one holding a rope. Looking closer, she noticed horns.

“It’s definitely a first for New Jersey Transit, despite seeing many strange things,” Ms. VandenBerg, 31, said. The transit agency did not immediately respond to questions about where the bull might have come from or whether Thursday had been the first time that service had been delayed by livestock.

The bull incident was the latest in what has been a rough month for the transit agency. On Dec. 4, the morning commute was ruined for thousands of riders on the agency’s Morris and Essex lines when damage to overhead wires caused a power outage. Ten days later, New Jersey Transit is still making repairs to the line, which is operating with modified service.

The agency is the third-busiest transit system in the country, behind the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad networks run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It provides about 270 million passenger trips each year.

Ms. VandenBerg said her fellow commuters did not appear fearful or agitated by the excitement on Thursday. They seemed annoyed, she added. Ms. VandenBerg and others abandoned the station and headed for Ubers to try to make it to their destinations.

“Everyone was acting shockingly unfazed,” she said.

As the service delay dragged on, more police officers tried to contain the animal as it became increasingly aggressive, running back and forth, Mr. Perez said. Eventually, he said, it escaped off the tracks and ran away.

The Newark Police said on Thursday that no injuries had been reported during the episode, and that the bull had been contained within a fenced lot on Victoria Street, near a meat wholesaler, before being taken to a sanctuary. According to the sanctuary’s Facebook page, the bovine’s name is Ricardo, and he is resting.

“He’s been pardoned,” Mike Silva, councilman for Newark’s East Ward, said. “They put him in a horse trailer and took him to a farm. He’s got guts.”

“He’s going to a farm where he’ll retire in luxury,” Mr. Silva added.

In the Ironbound neighborhood, an Iberian enclave blocks away from Penn Station, Juan and José García sat at the bar of the Brasília Grill, feasting on meat.

Born in Spain, the brothers come from a culture that makes bulls central with its bullfighting and cuisine. The Garcías, however, held sharply divergent views about justice for the escapee.

“That bull should go right on my plate. He ran and got caught, so he lost the battle,” Juan García said, slicing a piece of rare rump steak. “You win, or you lose. There is no in between. There is no trying.”

José García piled black beans onto his plate.

“That bull should be free. He was able to get away in a big city like Newark. It’s impressive,” he said, adding, “There should be a monument to him.”

Patrick McGeehan contributed reporting.