KITCHENER -- Rail safety was the message on Thursday at the scene of a tragic train crash that happened last year.

Metrolinx and the Waterloo Regional Police Service were at the railway crossing on Lancaster Street West near Victoria Street North, where a woman and child were seriously injured last November.

Officers from both organizations were at the crossing speaking to pedestrians and motorists about how to safely cross the tracks.

Metrolinx said this area is a hotspot for bad behaviour on the tracks.

"Very common ones in this area, we see people taking the tracks for a shortcut, we see people hanging around on the tracks, sitting down and taking a break," said Sgt. Chris Gannon with the Metrolinx transit safety division.

"We see people putting objects on the tracks to try to flatten them by the train wheels, which doesn't work well. It comes flying out like a projectile."

There have been at least three fatalities at that crossing since 2013.

According to rail safety group Operation Lifesaver, more than 100 Canadians are seriously injured or killed as a result of railway crossing incidents.