Can walking on train tracks kill you [UK]? (or out of Tube & train tracks which is most dangerous)?

It's most assuredly true - lots of trains are surprisingly quiet, particularly if they're being pushed by a loco at the back of the train and you're wearing an iPod, and if one runs you down at speed then they may be picking bits of you up for miles along the track. The 660 volts DC in the third rail will definitely fry you if you step on it while touching the ground with your other foot, and the 25,000 volts AC in the overhead cables will give a fair impression of hitting you with a lightning bolt (and you don't have to touch the cables either - under the right weather conditions the electricity can jump several feet across an air gap, just like lightning). If it was just a case of stupid trespassers and graffiti artists getting run down or electrocuted, I'd say go ahead and improve the gene pool, but I have sympathy for the drivers and the people who have to clean up the mess and pick up the pieces afterward, so just keep well away from non-public access areas of the railway.

Walking on any rail track is illegal and dangerous as you could easily get killed by a train. Third rail and third-and-fourth rail tracks as in southern England and on the Underground can also electrocute you. People who go out at night 'tagging' are not only breaking the law but putting their own and possibly other people's lives at risk. It's a mug's game.

Yes, railway lines are dangerous. Some have electrified rails, either to one side of the load-bearing rails or in the centre. Some have overhead electric wires. All have moving trains. A little background reading, or knowledge of electricity, will enable you to tell the difference between electrified and non-electrified tracks. Don't go walking on them - it is illegal for a good reason. (And these days someone caught trespassing on the line might be suspected of being a terrorist scouting out the site for a bomb attack).

yes the 3rd rail will kill you, and the people that make it to write graffiti thats just luck, or a very knowledgeable person, but at a time like that, knowledge won't always help. night or day you won't be able to tell which is the 3rd rail, so don't even take your chances. you may think u know the right one, but you may just tap it with your shoe and the shock will go straight through you and leave you toasted, you may also trip. so in the end, whats the point? and you asking this question makes me worried. don't go down there!

You're far more likely to be hit by a train. The tube is more dangerous than open track because you have nowhere to go if a train comes. Third rail has plenty of juice to kill you, but there are a lot of ways to get lucky and not be zapped. Still, don't push your luck. You may well survive being hit or shocked... and go on to live a long life, horribly disfigured and constantly in pain.

It all depends on of if the rails are electrified and if you touch the ground at the same time as the rails. that is why you see birds walking along the track and living, they are not earthing themselves by touching the track and ground. The people who go about putting graffiti on the line-side walls are dicing with death & I suppose that is why they go and do it, and their tag's are the proof that they have been there. I also suspect that the people who do access the track to perform that Graffiti do not care that they are at risk & putting other people at risk. They probably look up the train timetables and hope for the best!! Anyway I hope that my answer help. Joolz

i have the utmost respect for the people that have to deal with the 'aftermath',just be afraid,be very afraid!-

the two centre rails (3rd rail) are the ones that carry the current and touching them will kill you a train also will, i suppose at night you stay inbetween the actual two train tracks youll only get run over

If your body shuts down or your leg parts spasm while you are playing chicken with a train.