A child fell between a railway station platform and a departing suburban passenger train at Gosnells Station in Perth, highlighting the need to observe platform safety markings, an ATSB investigation into the incident notes.
On 26 October 2019, a Transperth passenger train arrived at platform 2 at Gosnells Railway Station. As passengers left the train, a young child separated from his family when they stopped to look after a sibling. The child walked among passengers as he wandered towards the edge of the platform and the side of the stationary railcar.
As the railcars’ doors closed, after the train driver had viewed the Driver Assist Video monitor to determine passengers had completed boarding and alighting, the child crossed the platform’s painted safety line and neared the edge of the platform. As the child turned and looked back at his family, he stumbled against the side of the train’s third railcar, stepped off the platform, fell between the railcar and platform.
Family members and those nearby reacted almost immediately and reached between the platform and train to rescue the child as well as alerting onboard passengers. As the train began to move, an onboard passenger, alerted to the situation by those on the platform, used the emergency passenger intercom to contact the driver.
The driver immediately applied full service braking.
While unsure of the exact nature of the emergency, the driver immediately applied full service braking to stop the train. The train soon came to a stop and the family was able to recover the child.
Police reports indicated the child was uninjured; however, a family member was reported to have sustained injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.
“The ATSB safety message reinforces that passengers at a railway station platform must observe the markings on its surface that specify the required separation from the platform edge,” ATSB Director Transport Safety, Dr Stuart Godley said.
Dr Godley noted that the quick reaction by the driver to stop the train in response to the onboard passenger’s emergency intercom message likely prevented serious injuries to the young child and family members.
Read the report: Passenger injury at Gosnells Railway Station, Perth, Western Australia, on 26 October 2019