Eight children fell through gaps between trains and train platforms in Perth last year, an unexplained spike in such incidents that has led to new precautions.
The number of such incidents normally hovers at zero or one, to a maximum of three per year, so Transperth, baffled by the spike, has launched its Mind the Gap awareness campaign.
Spokesman David Hynes said the children had somehow managed it despite Perth's network having some of the smallest gaps between train and platform of any system worldwide.
"This number of incidents is a lot for us, but compared to the eastern states where they have nowhere near the same quality in terms of controlling the gap it's small," he said.
"We have no idea why it's happened.
"It is virtually all little kids who love trains, whip away from mum or dad, stand on their toes to press the button, lose their balance and fall."
Thankfully, not all the children could actually fit through the gap entirely and so their fall was arrested, and none had been seriously hurt.
But it was a frightening thing for a child – not to mention their parent – and the spike has prompted Transperth to put new platform markings a metre further back from the existing yellow line at Perth and certain other key stations that children must keep behind.
"We will have posters and other reminders to make parents more aware that any child from toddler age up to about five can go like greased lightning," Mr Hynes said.
"Make sure you have a good grip on them."
In total there has been 16 incidents of children falling between the gap since the start of 2011, and there has been one incident so far this year.
In 2014 Perth hit headlines worldwide when dozens of passengers helped rock a train carriage back and forth to a free a man whose leg was caught in the gap at Perth station.
