Footage shows railway near miss in Northern Ireland

One hundred and twenty people were prosecuted for safety related incidents on Northern Ireland's railways last year, according to Translink.

The company has said CCTV footage is helping identify offenders.

Footage released by Translink includes a clip where a group of young friends cross tracks - one of them avoids being hit by a train by a matter of seconds.

In just two months last summer Translink found 114 situations where pedestrians put themselves at risk.

Translink's Ian Morrow said: "I think a lot of young people just don't really appreciate the risks.

"We have a lot of new trains out running now. We're testing the latest trains that we have just received, they're running in between our time table trains at speeds of 90 mph.

"They run quite quietly as well, so you can't hear them coming, so we think that children, particularly, don't appreciate how dangerous this environment is."

However, it is not just pedestrians taking chances - some motorists too are taking risks by trying to jump the lights or beat the barriers at crossings.

Translink said attempting to drive across level crossings as the barriers are being lowered is an incredibly dangerous practice.