JAIPUR: A camel in the interiors of Rajasthan took its recently acquired status of ‘ state animal ’ a bit too seriously, blocking the trunk rail route between Delhi and Mumbai for around three hours.

Taking an extraordinary fondness for walking on the tracks, or perhaps merely in one of its obdurate moods, the two-metre tall gentle giant gave much grief to passengers near Hindaun City in Karauli district, holding up at least eight trains that either halted or crawled between Mahaveerji and Hindaun City section – a distance of around 14 km. Railway sources said the camel planted itself on the tracks at 8.45pm on Saturday when a goods train was on its way from Delhi to Mumbai halting it. When it finally did relent, the goods train left; however, the even-toed ungulate was back on tracks, this time blocking the Amritsar-Mumbai Express .

“The train crew did everything, from blaring the horn from close quarters to trying to physically push it aside,” said Prabhu Singh, a train crew.

By this time panic was beginning to set in. Station masters of Mahaveerji and Hindaun asked train drivers on the route to slow down and not to exceed five km per hour. All this while, the temperamental beast would deign to get up from one track, only to settle on the second track, causing a virtual mayhem with the transportation system.

“While the camel was on and off the tracks between Mahaveerji and Hindaun City, the trains were moving at a very slow pace as the drivers were asked to reduce speed to avoid a mishap,” said an officer.

“For three hours or so, it walked the up section Delhi to Mumbai, and then went to Down section Mumbai to Delhi, halting at least eight trains in that period,” said an incredulous railwayman.

