Heart-stopping CCTV footage of a six-month-old baby's miraculous escape when his pram was struck by a suburban train in Melbourne's east has been released.
The baby boy miraculously survived and was pulled off the tracks with only a bump to his head.
The footage shows the mother on the platform at Ashburton railway station at 4pm (AEST) on Thursday.
She takes her hand off the pram for a second and it rolls off the platform and lands upside down just as the train arrives.
The train cannons into the pram and pushes it 30 metres along the tracks.
The mother screams in horror as onlookers at the station come to her aid.
The fact the baby was strapped into his pram at the time probably saved his life, according to paramedics.
The Ashburton drama occurred less than 24 hours after the launch of a railway safety program by Connex and Kidsafe Victoria.
There has been a surge in incidents involving children and babies in prams on trains including unrestrained babies spilling from prams falling between the train and platform, runaway prams left with their brakes off in high winds, and pram front wheels getting caught in the gap between the train and platform.
Police transit division Sgt Michael Ferwerda said the mother had not done anything wrong but the incident was a timely reminder for people to be careful at train stations.
"It's amazing how many people get too close to the tracks despite the dangers," he told reporters on Friday.
"We've had a lucky escape and it is a chance for commuters to heed warnings to be more careful."
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