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Woman slammed for taking picture of baby on train tracks

A woman who was photographed taking a picture of a baby sitting on train tracks has been slammed by local transport authorities.

The picture was uploaded to the Bell Tower Times Twitter page on Monday with the caption: “Now trending on Instagram: babies on train tracks. Spotted in Freo”.

The image shows the baby in the middle of the tracks while a woman crouches down to take a photo and another person looks on.

A woman was seen taking a photo of a baby on train tracks in Fremantle, Western Australia. Source: Twitter/The Bell Tower Times
A woman was seen taking a photo of a baby on train tracks in Fremantle, Western Australia. Source: Twitter/The Bell Tower Times

The picture was sent into the Public Transport Authority, with communications manager David Hynes describing the action as “stupid.”

“We believe the photo is legitimate, but we don’t know exactly when it was taken,” Mr Hynes told Yahoo7.

The crossing in Fremantle, south of Perth, is not used by metro trains, but freight trains do pass through it.

“It’s a freight train crossing so trains don’t go through as frequently or as fast, but if you get hit by a freight train, you’re just as dead,” Mr Hynes said.

Taking photos on railway tracks has become so common in heritage precincts such as Fremantle and Midland that the Public Transport Authority has begun erecting signs discouraging people from the practice.

“It’s certainly not the first time we’ve been alerted to people taking photographs on train tracks,” Mr Hynes said.

Ironically, it is Rail Safety Week in Western Australia.

“This year the emphasis is on trespass – we want to remind people about the potentially devastating consequences of being irresponsible and unsafe around the railway,” Mr Hynes told The West Australian on Tuesday.

“A train travelling at 160km/h covers 43 metres in a single second – being hit at this speed will almost certainly kill you.”