It was a cygnet failure.
A heartbroken swan mourning his recently dead companion caused trains to stop for nearly an hour on a high-speed rail line in central Germany, according to reports.
The sad swan refused to leave the tracks for 50 minutes on December 23 after his companion flew to the power line above and died, the Guardian said.
Swans tend to mate for the rest of their lives, according to Agence France-Presse – making their partner’s death even more devastating.
The mourning bird “sat next to the mourning body, resisting the authorities’ attempts to attract it,” according to the French news agency. As a result, 23 trains were delayed.
Firefighters finally caught the bird and threw it into the Fulda River.