A COAL train driver has spoken out about the terrifying moment protesters on the tracks in the Hunter Valley were almost struck, warning someone will be killed if the antics don't stop.
The Newcastle Herald can reveal details from industry workers on the ground showing just how close some climate activists have been coming to moving trains since June 25.
Security camera images obtained by the Herald appear to show a number of people coming within metres of a train near Newcastle.
An experienced Hunter-based driver, not authorised to speak publicly, has worked in the industry for more than a decade.
"It is clear that these protesters have no idea what they are dealing with ... trains do not stop like cars or even trucks or buses," he told the Herald.
"They way they're acting, it's only a matter of time before there's a death."
The driver was working on June 26, the second day of action, when his colleagues told him a chilling account of a near-miss.
"They were very shaken. Very, very shaken," he said.
He said a driver and observer were coming down an incline towards Singleton that morning when they noticed protesters standing on the tracks waving down the 10,000-tonne coal train travelling at about 30 or 35 kilometres per hour.
He told the Herald the driver and observer immediately engaged the emergency brakes, but it was too late.
"The train actually stopped two engine lengths past them - they jumped out of the road at the last minute," he said.
"They honestly thought they had them, that was the worst part."
The worker said his understanding was that another activist was waiting further down the rail corridor and climbed onto a carriage.
A 33-year-old woman from Victoria was arrested at about 8.30am on June 26 at Rix's Creek, north of Singleton, police said.
It's just one instance of reckless behaviour in the rail corridor amid more than two weeks of non-stop action by Blockade Australia.
Blockade Australia protesters have been trying to stop coal trains entering Port of Newcastle by climbing onto carriages, hanging from rail bridges and attaching themselves to infrastructure across the Hunter since June 25.
Dozens of people, aged between 17 and their 70s, have been rescued in police operations between Singleton and Kooragang and charged, with several fined between $750 and $1300 in court, and two handed prison terms.
Security camera photos show a number of people standing on the railway near Newcastle with a train nearby.
An Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) spokesperson confirmed the images were taken from a static camera near the Newcastle port set up as part of ongoing security and surveillance activities.
Blockade Australia did not respond to questions about their strategies to stop trains, allegations a protester had laid down on tracks earlier this week, or the security camera footage.
In public social media posts, Blockade Australia claimed it was disrupting the world's largest coal port in Newcastle, taking action against the "Australian project for its continued efforts to block meaningful action to address the climate and ecological crisis".
The Hunter-based train driver told the Herald the protest activity was tormenting people just trying to go about their daily work.
"It's in everybody's mind at the moment, everyone's quite cautious out there," he said.
"If a driver does actually hit them, that driver has to live with that for the rest of their life.
"It's clear they don't understand the safety risks they're playing with."
In his time in the industry, he said he had twice narrowly avoided people on the tracks. He said even as time went on, it "still puts a bad taste in your mouth".
"I have no issue with any protest, but if you protest, do not put the train crew or for that matter any worker, in a position where they may suffer long term non-physical injuries," he said.
The chief executive of freight company Pacific National, Paul Scurrah, told the Herald the "unpredictable and erratic behaviour" of protesters on the rail network was a major concern.
"Sending people on to railway tracks at night to jump in front of trains is incredibly dangerous," he said.
"The railway is never a safe space to protest as a fully loaded train can take up to two kilometres to come to a full stop.
"The suggestion from Blockade Australia they are being safe is bogus, it is only down to the incredibly skilled, and hardworking frontline rail workers that there have been no injuries or fatalities for the past 16 days as they are taking careful action to avoid this outcome."
He said the train crews were incredibly vigilant but every near-miss had a physical and psychological affect.
He thanked police and first responders for managing the "challenging recovering" of protesters at a risk to their own safety.
An ARTC spokesperson doubled down on calls, both publicly and directly to Blockade Australia, for the protesters to stop entering the rail corridor.
In a response to a letter on Wednesday pleading for safety from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW, Blockade Australia's Brad Homewood called for "genuine solidarity".
"Most of the unions recognise that we're in a climate and ecological crisis and want to see the government take the appropriate action," Mr Homewood told AAP.
"We're not going to claim we know more about rail safety than the rail union itself.
"But I think the fact that we've just done 16 days of sustained disruption and counting, and there hasn't been a single injury or a single death yet, speaks to how safely we've been carrying things out," Mr Homewood said.
Specialist police resources were deployed to the Hunter to respond to the protests, Strike Force Tuohy was stood up to investigate, and it's understood additional security has been in place on the Hunter rail corridor.
