Haymarket tram death: Old footage shows disturbing joyriding trend after Sydney teenager is killed
Disturbing footage has surfaced of another joyrider risking his life standing between wagons on a moving streetcar – after a teenage girl is murdered in the night.
A 16-year-old girl died on Wednesday evening after being dragged 200 meters down George Street in Haymarket, in Sydney’s CBD.
Bystanders said the girl had been trying to cross the tracks between two carriages when the streetcar stopped at a red light near the Chinatown light rail stop.
When the tram suddenly started moving, it became trapped under one of the carriages and was dragged onto the road before the driver came to a stop.
The incident comes after the NSW branch of the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) previously raised concerns about the safety of trams in high-density areas.
The warnings were issued by the organization in 2019 with new footage of a disturbing new trend on trams showing just how dangerous they can be.
Disturbing footage of a thrill seeker standing between tramcars has surfaced alongside safety warnings from unions in the wake of the death of a teenage girl on Wednesday night
A video, from November, showed some thrill seekers standing in a small space between carriages to take a free ride around town.
A man in a pink shirt is seen standing between two carriages and casually leaning against the nose of one of the carriages.
He waves to a camera as the tram passes through Sydney.
Three years ago, the Rail, Tram and Bus Association sounded the alarm about possible safety problems surrounding the then newly built tram system in 2019.
Secretary of the union’s bus and streetcar division, David Babineau, claimed that there were inherent dangers in operating streetcars through densely populated areas of a large city.
The division secretary even went so far as to say that the network construction had ‘failed’ when it started.
Mr Babineau said at the time that the new trams were ’67 meters long and carried more people than an airplane and you share space with everyone under the sun’.
“You can’t fathom the number of people using their phones, delivery drivers, cyclists and others,” he told the Sunday Telegraph.
During the testing of the trams along the new route, there were numerous close calls with cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.
A teen suffered minor head injuries after being hit by a streetcar in Moore Park, an area Babineau described as a particularly dangerous area.
“Not responding to proposed safety changes will look pretty bad if someone gets hurt,” Babineau said at the time.
The NSW Government had implemented safety messages related to trams including ‘Attention, play safe around Light Rail’ and ‘Attention there is a tram there’.
The video, from last November, shows a joyrider standing in a small space between the carriages and waving at a camera as the tram moves (pictured)
The 16-year-old girl died after suffering serious injuries when she tried to drive through the gap between the carriages before being dragged underwater for two hours
The government has since expanded safety messages around trains, such as advising pedestrians to ‘cross at designated crossings and intersections where available, and always look both ways’.
They had also introduced a chicane, lowered speed limits and added additional signage for pedestrians and cyclists along routes.
However, tram-related accidents continue to occur in high-density areas.
In May last year, a man in his 30s suffered a head injury after being hit by the light rail near Bourke Street in Surry Hills.
While as far back as 2009, a man got trapped under a tram for 20 minutes on the corner of Hay and Pitt St, just a stone’s throw from Wednesday’s incident.
Police are still investigating the death of the 16-year-old girl.
Witnesses told Daily Mail Australia that the girl had been trying to cross the tracks between two carriages when the tram stopped at a red light near the Chinatown light rail stop.
When the tram suddenly started moving, it became trapped under one of the carriages and was dragged onto the road before the driver came to a stop.
Police and firefighters fought for nearly two hours to free the girl from the tracks, but she later died on the spot.
The secretary of the RTBU’s Bus and Tram Department warned in 2019 of the dangers of trams in high-density areas as they “share space with everyone under the sun”
Mohammed Aqil Abdulla, 29, was working the Wednesday night shift at TSG Tobacco Station near the Chinatown stop when he heard terrifying screams.
“The tram dragged her from the traffic lights to the next platform, about 200 meters,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“She was trapped between the compartments.”
Mr Abdulla said he heard the girl tried to cross between carriages when the tram stopped at traffic lights.
“The driver wouldn’t have seen her.”
The shopkeeper added: “She was only 16. I feel sorry for her family, it’s so sad.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union sent his deepest condolences to the teenager’s family and friends.
Transport for NSW Secretary Howard Collins echoed the same sentiment, writing in a statement: ‘Everyone at Transport for NSW is saddened by the death of a teenage girl at a light rail stop in central Sydney’.
“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends and loved ones,” the statement read.
“We thank emergency services, staff and everyone who provided assistance last night for their efforts and will provide our staff with the support they need.”