Featured Image Credit: @itsmenoahg/TikTok
Topics: TikTok
Cameron Frew
Warning: Distressing Content
A TikToker left their phone on a railway track to illustrate just how fast a train travels – and it is absolutely terrifying.
Let's just get this out there, for the record, without a shadow of a doubt: you should never, ever step on a train track unless you're qualified and it's safe to do so. Sure, it made an iconic scene in Stand By Me, but you're just endangering yourself and putting others (the driver, engineers, the inevitable emergency workers) at risk of being traumatised.
Between 2020 and 2021, there were a total of 253 suicides on the British rail network, as well as 23 non-suicide fatalities. Last summer, Network Rail also said there'd been 433 serious incidents reported since the start of the COVID pandemic.
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Back in 2016, TikToker Noah (@itsmenoahg) put their phone on a train track to capture the speed of an oncoming train, with a couple of cattails placed on the rails to also show how severe the detritus of something being hit would be.
'The cattails represent a person. They have exactly/less than four seconds to react/get off the rails from when the video starts (when they see the train)... please never go on train tracks, it's not worth the risk,' the text on the video reads.
In the UK, trains have a maximum operational speed of 125mph, although many are capable of speeds of up to 140mph. However, they generally travel at between 60 and 65mph. In the US, some trains travel at speeds of 150mph.
Among the many comments on the TikTok video, one user wrote, 'I’m just here to remind you to think of the engineers and conductors. This traumatizes them, and I promise you they’ll remember your face forever,' to which Noah replied, 'Thank you for this. If someone does decide to do it, it will not only hurt them and their family, but the engineer and cub doctors.'
'A girl from my high school committed [suicide] this way and the conductor had to take a six-month leave of absence. It was tragic all around,' another wrote.
'I take a commuter train daily, and talked to the conductors about this. It really affects their mental health when they hit someone,' a third commented, to which Noah replied, 'Yep. I could only imagine the stress they have to go through if they see someone on the rails just hoping they would get off.'
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123