Commuters have been warned to be extra cautious around train stations and on level crossings after the NSW government released video footage of slips and falls on platforms and near misses for trespassers on rail lines.
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Transport Minister Andrew Constance has also urged parents to watch their children carefully on train platforms in the wake of a 9 per cent rise to 240 in incidents involving minors last year on the state's rail system.
The closed-circuit television footage shows a variety of incidents, including one in which a man runs for a train at Circular Quay before slipping and catching one of his legs between a carriage and the platform.
Another shot shows a commuter dashing to catch a train, then slipping and headbutting a carriage at Rockdale Station.
In total, more than 1800 slips, trips and falls were recorded on the system in NSW last year, while police charged more than 80 people and issued about 240 trespass notices and infringements for offences such as graffitiing.
While the total number of incidents has fallen from 2100 a year earlier, Mr Constance said it was "still 1800 too many", and he was especially concerned about the rise in accidents involving children, such as them falling between platform gaps.
Curved platforms at some of the state's older platforms mean the gaps are wider than elsewhere on the network.
To boost safety, glass screens will be built on platforms at stations on the $20 billion-plus metro line under construction in Sydney. The first stage from Sydney's north west to Chatswood is due to start operating driverless, single-deck trains in 2019, while the second stage to the CBD, Sydenham and Bankstown is scheduled to be completed by 2024.
Straight platforms at stations on the metro line also mean the gaps between trains and platforms will be reduced.
Mr Constance said there was no excuse for members of the public to be in a rail corridor or "mucking around on a train platform or on a train".
"These places are inherently dangerous. We have seen too many people entering rail corridors and as a result from time to time there are incidents," he said. "It's not worth risking your life."
Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins urged people to be wary of using their mobile phones while they were walking around trains and platforms because they needed "all their senses"
"Think about where you're going [and] less about the mobile phone," he said.
"We all do it – we all try and answer our phones ... we are thinking of a deadline. But safety is much more important than a deadline."
NSW TrainLink chief executive Rob Mason said more than 200 rail-crossing violations were recorded in the state last year, which was "probably the tip of the iceberg".
A level-crossing violation is where people rush over a rail line while barriers are dropping or lights flashing to warn of an impending train, or drivers of vehicles "trying to save a few seconds".
"If you're crossing against the signals, you're risking your own life and endangering those on the train," he said.
