Birthday 'idiot' drives new car on rail track

Police speak to the 21-year-old learner driver of a car which was driven on the railway line at Abbotsford. Photo / Gerard O'Brien.

A 21-year-old learner driver caught the attention of police when he decided to take his birthday present for a joy-ride on the railway line at Abbotsford.

The Taieri Gorge train was briefly stopped about 4.30pm yesterday as the birthday boy and two friends parked their car under the rail bridge at North Taieri Rd.

The car's driver accessed the rail line via an unlocked access road.

The car's occupants were lucky, especially as a train was using the line at the time, Senior Constable Andrew Camp said.

The 21-year-old received the car as a birthday gift and, despite being a learner driver, decided to take "a joy ride with two friends" on the railway line.

He was parked under the rail bridge when police arrived, Mr Camp said.

The incident was reported by a member of the public.

KiwiRail, which owns the line, said no infrastructure was damaged by the incident.

KiwiRail could not comment on why the access gate was unlocked, a spokeswoman said.

But the incident was "taken seriously".

"All incidents are avoidable if people don't take foolish risks," she said.

Dunedin Railways operations manager Grant Craig said the delay to the Taieri Gorge train was minimal.

He declined to comment on the incident as it was up to KiwiRail to "deal with those idiots".

Mr Camp said it was too early to comment on what, if any, charges would be laid against the driver.