A man is hauled off the tracks by his backpack at the last second. A hatchback appears out of nowhere. A mobility scooter zooms in front of a tram without slowing down. A food delivery rider is almost sideswiped by an 85-tonne behemoth.
Officials have released video footage of near misses in New South Wales and urged pedestrians, riders and drivers to be more careful near the light rail network during Rail Safety Week.
The campaign comes two months after a pedestrian died when struck by a tram on Sydney’s light rail – the second fatality in the city in two years.
The NSW government on Sunday released video footage of “heart-in-mouth” moments showing light rail near misses in Sydney and Newcastle. Officials said there were more close calls on Parramatta’s light rail system – which opened at the end of 2024 – over the past 12 months than on any other line.
People in western Sydney were still adjusting to the new mode of transport and its positioning on roadways, the government said.
The NSW transport minister, John Graham, urged those near light rail tracks to stay alert and “follow the rules to ensure your own safety”.
“These moments are hard to watch because in some cases there is just centimetres or milliseconds from the result being so much worse,” Graham said in a statement on Sunday.
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“It is the right time to remind people that light rail vehicles can’t deviate from their path and at 85 tonnes, when fully loaded, they take time to stop.”
Police said the pedestrian who died in early June in Surry Hills was attempting to cross between a light rail vehicle’s first and second carriages before he was trapped beneath the tram. Paramedics treated him at the scene, but he died.
The incident was eerily similar to an incident in 2023 when a teenage girl died after she was trapped underneath a tram in Sydney’s CBD. Police told the media at the time she had been trying to climb between two tram carriages.
The incidents have prompted Sydney tram drivers to demand safety upgrades to prevent further injuries or deaths.
In response, Transdev, the light rail’s private operator, said at the time there were “multiple safety measures in place” on light rail vehicles, including camera vision and yellow safety lines that helped prevent slipping and warned people of platform edges.
Sydney has 25km of light rail track, Parramatta 12km and Newcastle 3km. There have been 10 fatalities and around 1,000 injuries on the national light rail network since 2016, according to data from the TrackSafe Foundation. A majority were in Melbourne, which has 250km of light rail tracks.
