Women puts her life at risk as she nearly gets hit by oncoming train

Elderly woman walks across railway tracks less than a second before a train thunders past her



An elderly woman has narrowly avoided being hit by a train when she walked through a level crossing in Taiwan.



A Puyuma Express train was approaching a level crossing in the north-eastern city of Hsinchu when the woman ignored the ringing alarm bells and walked past the barriers.



The woman, who was not identified, barely made it across before the oncoming train sped past inches behind her.



Heart-stopping footage shows the pensioner, carrying her shopping bag and an umbrella, walking straight across the tracks at about 4:45pm last Tuesday.



She looks left and appears to spot the approaching express train, prompting her to pick up her pace as she huddled to the opposite side.



The dramatic clip then shows the train speeding into view and narrowly avoiding the elderly woman by inches.



Hsinchu's Railway Police Bureau said the train driver noticed the woman walking onto the tracks and immediately applied the emergency brakes.



However, the express train was travelling too fast and could only stop after the crossing.



Train staff immediately alerted the authorities and checked to see if they had hit anyone. Luckily, surveillance footage showed the woman escaped unharmed but the incident had caused a delay to the train's schedule.



Railway police said they were tracking down the woman and would fine her accordingly.



The Puyuma was launched in 2013 to handle the difficult topography of Taiwan’s east coast and is separate from the high-speed rail that runs on the west coast. The trains travel up to 93 miles (150km) per hour, faster than any other in Taiwan except for high-speed rail.