Would it have been more acceptable to rail staff if they had protested on a tramway ?
Yes. For various reasons. Trans are driven on line of sight, tramways aren’t fenced off and systems are in place because of that.
No matter what the armchair experts on here think, it’s not safe to be on the tracks, even if you did it on the 60’s.
Even a protest that shut London terminals down without going on the tracks would have been more acceptable. I don’t think the child should be taken into care, but I do think the parents should be spoken to officially. Not that’s it’s my decision to make .
I don’t know anything about you, so I’m assuming you’ve never seen the aftermath of a train hitting someone “at a low speed.”
Seen the mess and smelt the various bodily fluids and organs cooking on the exhaust, or seen what effect it has on your colleagues, then I’m not going to be lectured about perspective by some trainspotters.