Close escape on train tracks 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
Close escape on train tracks
Fantastic picture in original article:
The man clings to the platform as the train rushes past
A drunken man on a railway line at an Essex station survived by clinging to the platform edge as a train went past.
Staff at Romford station said they were "amazed" the man was not killed.
CCTV captured the moment as the train rushed by just inches from the man's legs.
First Great Eastern say they decided to publish the picture "out of sheer frustration" in an attempt to stop teenagers climbing onto the tracks.
'So lucky'
The man was spotted climbing onto the tracks by station staff at 1730 BST on 17 July.
A train travelling on the other side of the tracks had already narrowly missed him when he started trying to climb back on to the platform.
The man clung to the platform as a second train rushed through.
The only reason the man survived was because the train was one of the older, slam-door trains which leave a wider gap between the platform.
First Great Eastern spokeswoman Jill Casswell said: "He was so very lucky.
"If it had been one of our modern trains he would certainly have been killed."
"The driver terminated the train at the next station because he was so shaken up."
The man was checked over at the station and was questioned by British Transport Police.
From:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/2175931.stm Submitted on 08/19/2002
Submitted by:
Toe Mouse
Reference:
BBC News 6th August 2002
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