Woman braces rly tracks as train starts moving; escapes unhurt

Pune: In a shocking incident, a woman tried to cross the tracks by passing underneath a stationary goods train, but as she went under the rake, the train received a green signal and started moving. In a bid to save herself, she braced herself on the tracks as the train passed over her around 8am at Patas railway station on Saturday.Railway officials confirmed that the incident took place at around 8am. In a video, which surfaced on social media, the woman can be seen lying on the railway track as a train passes over her. As soon as the train passes, she gets up and walks."This woman, whose identity isn't known, was crossing the track by going underneath a stationary goods train. While she was doing so, the train got the signal and started moving. Sensing danger, the woman lay down on the track and let the train pass over her. Fortunately, she escaped unharmed," Hemant Kumar Behera, divisional commercial manager (DCM) and PRO of the Pune rail division, told TOI.He added that the Patas railway station had an FOB. "However, the work on extension of the same is on and will be completed soon. Once that happens, people will not have to face any problems crossing. Our initiatives against wrong and illegal track trespassing are continuous. Many awareness campaigns to prevent people from trespassing on round the year," the officer added.Sources in the division said attempts were being made to identify the woman. Authorities said it seemed that she was trying to go through the rear compartments of the train when it suddenly started to roll on the tracks and gathered speed, leaving her with no choice."The patrolling and action need to improve. Mere awareness campaigns will not help. People should fear crossing the tracks and realise that someone is always monitoring and action can be taken against them. Also, the infrastructure of different railway stations needs to be improved so that people are not forced to cross the tracks like this. However, having said that, many times people cross tracks to save time despite knowing the dangers, "Anand Saptarshi, a member of Divisional Railway Users' Consultative Committee (DRUCC), said.Interestingly, cases of illegal track trespassing in the Pune division had slightly dropped in 2025 compared to 2024. While in 428 track trespassing incidents resulted in 367 deaths and 61 injuries were reported in 2025, cases in 2024 stood at 435 incidents resulting in 385 deaths and 50 injuries.