Adding walkways to the Ngāruawāhia rail bridge could help prevent tragedies, a rail union boss says, but a culture change is also needed.
The danger signs at the rail bridge at Ngāruawāhia. Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae
An 11-year-old girl died when she was hit by a train while playing on the rail-only bridge across the Waikato River on Sunday evening.
It is a popular spot for locals to jump from into the river and stopping people from climbing on it is a hard task - despite fences, cameras and threats of fines to deter them.
When someone is on the tracks, there is little drivers can do to stop the thousands of tonnes of freight train from hitting them except blast the horn.
Rail and Maritime Transport Union secretary Wayne Butson told Morning Report train drivers were terrified to cross the bridge at Ngāruawāhia in case another child is killed.
"I drove trains for 20 years and I was unfortunate enough to experience these things.
"I'm really torn on this particular one, I think it is a complete and utter tragedy and every time someone is killed on the tracks it is a complete waste whether they're in a motor vehicle, or trespassing, or whatever.
He said slower trains were not the solution, with the current speed restriction on the bridge already at 25km/h.
"There are other interventions that can be done, and I don't think slowing down a train is necessarily the answer, it's already going very very slow."
The bridge does not have a footpath unlike rail bridges in places such as the Hutt Valley and Whanganui.
Ngāruawāhia's rail bridge Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae
"Should be talking about putting decks on the side of the bridge, walkways on the side of the bridge," Mr Butson said.
"Ngāruawāhia bridge has no walkways on the side of it. We could put those sorts of things in there to - if they want to cross the bridge - give them alternative ways of doing it."
He said the effect of crashes like this could be traumatic for the drivers.
"On this particular train there were two people on it, one was a fully qualified local engineer and the other was a new trainee starting their career in rail.
"They have a three day mandatory stand-down, they are supposed to undertake counselling and we hope that they are able to return to work because the other reality is not all train drivers who go through these experiences are able to carry on with their careers.
"A number of them are medically retired with post traumatic stress."
Mr Butson said it was also a New Zealand-wide problem.
"You know what the message is? Tracks are for trains," he said.
"You wouldn't think of walking down the middle of a state highway if you're in a sane rational mind, but people in this country seem to think it's acceptable to walk all over the railway tracks.
"It's extremely dangerous and it should not be encouraged."
'No reason' for foot bridge
But the local mayor said he did not support calls for a pedestrian foot bridge.
Waikato District mayor Allan Sanson said there was already a pedestrian walkway on the road bridge which was next to the rail bridge.
"I can't see the reason to have it as we already have got one that is probably only 30-metres away."
Mr Sanson said it was an issue for KiwiRail but he did not think it would not be keen on any new structure that would still encourage people to come on or near the rail bridge.
He said while a footbridge next to the rail bridge may be safer for people to jump off into the river it would mean the KiwiRail would be liable if anyone was injured.
"At the end of the day I am pretty sure they would rather have people off the structure altogether."
"It's up to KiwiRail. They may think that it may be the best option, or the lesser of two evils but I just don't know."
Mr Sanson said foot bridges were normally the responsibility of local councils but in the Ngāruawāhia case there was a foot bridge already.
KiwiRail said there were a number of complexitities in adding a pedestrian bridge on the existing railway bridge structure, including encouraging people to still access the rail corridor unnecessarily.
It said that while there were a small number of rail bridges with protected pedestrian walkways in other parts of the country, the presence of an existing protected pedestrian walkway on the Ngaruawahia road bridge already provides this access.
KiwiRail said it was committed to continuing to work closely with the community on solutions for keeping people away from the rail track in Ngāruawāhia.
It said safety of the public and Kiwirail staff was its priority.
More education needed
Former Ngāruawāhia community board member Jack Ayers met with Waikato District Council last week to discuss solutions for the problem.
"What has been proposed at this stage is education, education for the parents and the generations before," he told Morning Report.
"They have a saying here that it is a rite of passage, it's something that the older generation has done and they think that because they've done it that it is the right thing to do.
Things had changed now, however.
"Now that a child has been killed though, there is no rite of passage.
"Ngāruawāhia's such an old town, and very much steeped in Maoridom going back along way, and traditions go back a long way.
"Because there has been a life taken on that bridge there is a tapu ... that education has to be passed on to the younger ones from the ones that know, the older ones.
He said any previous education programmes around the bridge and safety had been pretty basic.
"And they haven't really reached the heart of the people," Mr Ayers said.
"If the community wants to see an end to the tragedy then they can do it."
The community is rallying to support the girl's family. A givealittle page has been set up with funds raised going towards funeral costs and other needs.
