A deer darts down the platform past a waiting train in this undated image from video, at the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant metrorail station in Seat Pleasant, Md. Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said officials were unsure of the exact date. Security cameras caught the romp, and Metro officials released the videotape Monday, Dec. 15, 2003, after police came across it during a routine review. [AP]

This wasn't the typical subway fare jumper.

A videotape released Monday by Metrorail, Washington's mass transit system, shows a deer running through a train station as startled passengers watch.

``We've named him Rudolph the Blue Line Reindeer,'' Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.

The video shows the deer walking around the mezzanine at the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant station in Maryland, running down an escalator, then darting down the platform past a waiting train. The animal then jumped onto the tracks, avoiding the electrified third rail, and headed off into the woods surrounding the aboveground station, Farbstein said.

Deer often wander onto Metro's aboveground tracks, and most avoid danger, Farbstein said, but a deer inside a station is rare.

Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said officials were unsure of the exact date of the incident. Security cameras caught the romp, and police came across it during a routine review of video footage.

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