Empire Commuter: At least in the UK they make excuses for being late

This summer it was announced that many Empire line trains would be running 15 minutes late due to track repairs. Now they've stopped working on the tracks and trains are still consistently 15 minutes to a half hour late. Basically Amtrak has given up on any attempt to justify the delays.

In the U.K. trains are often late, but old world civility demands that some explanation be given. The UK Sun reports this incident:

TRAIN passengers were stunned yesterday when a guard told them: "There's a LLAMA on the tracks."

Commuters on the London to Manchester train burst out laughing at the announcement.

The Virgin Trains service was stopped outside Stoke-on-Trent for ten minutes as staff leapt into action to clear the line.

Passenger Andrew Robinson, 34, said: "The train stopped and the guard said over the tannoy 'OK folks, this is a new one, there is a llama on the track, we've got to hold here while we check it out'.

"Everyone on the train found it hilarious and started laughing — it put everyone in a good mood."

Richard Price, 24, added: "I thought it had to be a wind-up — what was a llama doing in Stoke?"

A Virgin Trains spokesman said: "After initial reports it was announced that there was a llama on the tracks. The animal eventually ran off and we could only find a white cow in the vicinity."