More than 20 pedestrians have been involved in near-misses on country rail lines this year, prompting a V/Line safety warning.
The latest cases include an incident involving three youths at the Ballan station crossing last month.
V/Line chief executive Theo Taifalos urged the public to remain vigilant around rail lines and level crossings.
“It takes trains a lot longer to stop than vehicles so pedestrians need to be patient while waiting for a train to pass,” Mr Taifalos said. “It’s not worth risking your life for the sake of a few seconds.”
Other incidents include two youths sitting on the track at the Wendouree level crossing in Ballarat and two girls “playing chicken” with a train at the Bendigo-Pyramid Road level crossing.
“These are frightening examples of pedestrians dicing with death,” Mr Taifalos said.
V/Line figures show 378 pedestrian near-misses were reported across the network last year.
Mr Taifalos said people taking such risks also affected train drivers. “It can be a traumatic experience for our drivers and it’s happening far too often,” he said.
“It’s up to the public to help prevent these situations.”
V/Line encourages the community to report anyone who trespasses through a pedestrian barrier or is involved in dangerous behaviour at a rail line.
