Earphones may have distracted girl hit by train

The teenager died at the scene after walking around the barrier to cross the railway tracks. Police suspect she was wearing earphones and didn't hear the warnings and screams from onlookers. Photo / Thinkstock

A 15-year-old schoolgirl hit and killed by a train may have been oblivious to onlookers' warning screams because she was wearing earphones.

About 15 witnesses at the level crossing and on the platforms at Ginifer station in Melbourne's north watched as the girl ran out in front of a city-bound V/Line train on Monday morning. They yelled at her to stop, but after hesitating she made the fatal decision to run.

Sergeant Rob Atkinson said the Cairnlea girl may have been wearing earphones and so didn't hear the screams of warning or the sound of the train. "Witnesses have yelled out to her to stop," he said.

"I believe she hesitated at the point when she got halfway across and then continued on. She could have possibly had some earpieces in and may not have heard the V/Line train coming."

Police said they found a set of earphones at the scene but could not say for sure whether she was wearing them when she died.

Bright yellow boom gates blocked pedestrians, but the girl walked through an emergency exit gate to the tracks, while a Metro train sat at the platform, said Atkinson. She was hit by a train travelling in the opposite direction, from Bendigo to the city.

Paramedics said they arrived to find the girl in cardiac arrest. They treated her at the scene for about 10 minutes before she died.

"It's happening too often," said Atkinson. "Pedestrians really must take heed of the safety barriers and the boom gates. Being late by a couple of minutes for either work or school, it's just not worth your life."

The girl's death comes a week after a 3-year-old boy was struck by a train in regional Victoria and died the next day. Last month, a 70-year-old woman was killed by a train at a level crossing at McKinnon station in Melbourne's southeast. A day earlier, a 28-year-old cyclist was hit by a train at North Williamstown station and is still in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

The Committee for Melbourne think-tank has renewed calls for the city's 170-odd level crossings to be removed.

Chief executive Andrew MacLeod said long waiting times at level crossings were frustrating commuters and encouraging risky decisions. "We are hearing more and more stories of people trying to beat oncoming trains, but what is just as tragic, is that these deaths could have been avoided if the right infrastructure was in place."

- AAP