Train stowaways facing charges

Police are expected to lay charges against two Albany men caught riding on a grain train near Cranbrook on Saturday night.

Cranbrook police apprehended the two 20-year-old men, both of Albany, aboard a CBH grain train.

Police said the pair had stowed away in Albany before they were apprehended in Cranbrook — a 95km journey.

The train can reach 100km/h on the section of line.

Police said they expected to lay charges within the next 48 hours.

Last year, CBH released footage of several near-misses on the Albany to Cranbrook line in a bid to reduce the number of incidents and close calls between vehicles, people and trains.

The footage showed several vehicles parked or driving on rail lines as fully laden grain trains approached.

In releasing the video, CBH operations manager David Capper urged drivers to be vigilant at rail crossings.

“These near-miss events are happening as often as every fortnight, which raises the question of just how long it will be before there is a collision,” he said.

In May last year, a 32-year-old man lost a hand and a foot after falling from a moving CBH train in the Wheatbelt.

The man fell from a carriage after climbing aboard with his brother.