Woman on railway track pulled to safety from path of onrushing train with seconds to spare

The woman is apparently drunk when she tries to cross to the opposite platform

A woman was pulled to safety from a railway line just seconds before an oncoming train would have probably have ended her life, a video has revealed.

CCTV footage shows the woman, who was believed to have been drunk, struggle across the tracks to reach the opposite platform at a station in Melbourne, Australia.

She then reaches the concrete verge and leans against it, but appears unable to climb up – before a man who is apparently her friend saunters over from where he is seated to come to her aid.

He reaches for her hand and tries to pull her up, but the woman lets go before three Protective Services Officers suddenly rush to the scene and yank her up from the track.

Seconds later a train with its lights on rolls through the spot where the woman was standing during the late-night incident.

The driver reportedly hit his brakes after spotting the woman but was unable to bring the locomotive to an immediate stop.

Inspector Martin Hardy, of Victoria police, said the woman was lucky to have emerged from the drama without a scratch.

“The woman was potentially going to get very seriously injured, if not killed,” he told 7 News.

“You’ve got 300 tonnes of train coming through, so it’s a lot of weight.”

Officers have reportedly charged the woman at the centre of the incident with entering railway tracks.