Disturbing footage of a joyrider risking their life and standing between carriages on a moving tram has surfaced after a teenage girl was killed.
A 16-year-old girl died after she was dragged 200m across George Street in Haymarket, in Sydney‘s CBD, on Wednesday night.
Bystanders said the girl had tried to cross the tracks between two carriages when the tram was stopped at a red light near the light rail stop in Chinatown.
When the tram suddenly started moving, she became trapped under one of the carriages and was dragged up the road before the driver came to a stop.
The incident comes despite the NSW branch of the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) previously raising safety concerns of operating trams in high-density areas.
The warnings were made by the organisation in 2019 with new footage of a disturbing new trend on trams revealing how dangerous they can be.
Disturbing footage of a thrill seeker standing in between tram carriages has resurfaced alongside union safety warnings in the wake of a teenage girls death on Wednesday night
A video, from November, showed some thrill seekers standing on a small space between carriages to gain a free ride through the city.
A man in a pink shirt is seen standing in between two carriages and leaning nonchalantly against the nose of one of the carriages.
He waves at a camera while the tram passes through Sydney.
Three years ago, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union raised the alarm on potential safety concerns surrounding the then newly built tram system in 2019.
The union’s bus and tram division secretary David Babineau claimed there were inherent dangers with operating trams through high density areas of a major city.
The division secretary went as far to say the construction of the network was ‘botched’ at the time of its commencement.
Mr Babineau said at the time that the new trams were ’67m long carrying more people than an aircraft and you are sharing space with everyone under the sun’.
‘You can’t contain the amount of people using their phones, delivery drivers, cyclists and others,’ he told the Sunday Telegraph.
There had been numerous close-calls while the trams were being tested along the new route involving cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.
One teenage boy suffered minor head injuries after being hit by a tram at Moore Park, an area that Mr Babineau specified as a particularly dangerous area.
‘Being unresponsive to proposed safety changes is going to look pretty piss poor when someone gets injured,’ Mr Babineau said at the time.
The NSW Government had implemented safety messages related to trams, including ‘Heads Up, Play it Safe around Light Rail’ and ‘Be aware, there’s a tram there’.
The video, from November last year, shows a joyrider standing on a small space between carriages and waving at a camera while the tram was moving (pictured)
The 16-year-old girl died after sustaining serious injuries trying to cross through the gap between carriages before being dragged under for two hours
The government has since expanded on safety messages surrounding trains, such as advising pedestrians to ‘cross at designated crossings and intersections where available, and always look both ways’.
They had also introduced chicane, lowered speed limits and installed extra signage for pedestrians and cyclists along routes.
However, tram-related accidents have continued to occur in high density areas.
In May of last year, a man aged in his 30s suffered head injuries after being struck by the light rail near Bourke Street in Surry Hills.
While as far back as 2009, a man had become trapped under a tram for 20 minutes at the corner of Hay and Pitt St just a stone’s throw away from Wednesday’s incident.
Police are still investigating the death of the 16-year-old girl.
Witnesses told Daily Mail Australia the girl had tried to cross the tracks between two carriages when the tram was stopped at a red light at the near the light rail stop in Chinatown.
When the tram suddenly started moving, she became trapped under one of the carriages and was dragged up the road before the driver came to a stop.
Police and fire crews battled for nearly two hours to free the girl from the tracks, but she later died at the scene.
The Bus and Tram division secretary of the RTBU warned in 2019 of the dangers of trams in high density areas as they are ‘were sharing space with everyone under the sun’
Mohammed Aqil Abdulla, 29, was working the Wednesday night shift at TSG Tobacco Station near the Chinatown stop when he heard terrifying screams.
‘The tram dragged her from the lights to the next platform, roughly 200metres,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘She was stuck in between the compartments.’
Mr Abdulla said he had heard the girl had attempted to cross between carriages when the tram was stationary at traffic lights.
‘The driver wouldn’t have seen her.’
The shopkeeper added: ‘She was just 16. I feel sorry for her family, it’s so sad.
When asked to to comment, a spokesperson for the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union wished the family and friends of the teenager their deepest condolences.
Transport for NSW Secretary Howard Collins echoed the same sentiment, writing in a statement: ‘Everyone at Transport for NSW is saddened by the death of a teenage girl at a light rail stop in central Sydney overnight’.
‘We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends and loved ones,’ the statement reads.
‘We thank emergency services, staff and anyone who rendered assistance for their efforts last night and we will provide our staff with the support they need.’
