Train narrowly misses two people in Londonderry tunnel

Footage of a train narrowly missing two people who walked into a tunnel in County Londonderry has been released by Translink.

The CCTV film, taken from the train near Downhill Strand, shows a beach lifeguard waving to the train to warn the driver about the two pedestrians.

The footage shows the pair running from the train. They were not hit and only received some scratches in the incident.

Translink, which operates buses and trains in Northern Ireland, released the July 2015 footage as part of a campaign to raise awareness over the risk of trespassing onto rail tracks.

It said there were other near misses in September, including one involving a young person near Jordanstown, County Antrim.

The company said there were 304 incidents of trespassing on tracks between April and the end of August this year.

Hotspots included areas near Whiteabbey, Antrim and Finaghy.

It said one incident involved three young people "playing chicken on the tracks" at Dunmurry, near Belfast.

"Our trains travel at speeds of up to 90mph and if a driver has to apply the emergency brakes, it will take two-thirds of a mile for the train to stop," said Mark Atkinson, Translink's chief engineer.

"In other words, not even the fastest athlete on the planet could outrun a train."