Local Focus: Safety concerns after Masterton rail crossing crash

After a train hit a car on a rail crossing at Norfolk Road this week, concerns have been raised in the Wairarapa region about road and rail safety.

The vehicle that collided with the train was carried several metres along the track. Ambulances, fire crews and police quickly arrived on the scene and cordoned off the intersection.

The car had to be cut open to retrieve the driver and no one on the train was injured.

After cutting open the car, emergency services were able to remove the driver.

Local resident Melelisa Tusini-Hetutu arrived at the scene not long after the crash, shaken by what she had just witnessed.

“I often thought that one day this is going to happen, or worse, someone will die,” Tusini-Hetutu said.

“All they have to do is put a barrier up. They’ve got the 100-kilometre speed limit along here, which never made sense to me.”

With just a sign, lights and bells at the crossing, responsibility is on road users to slow down and check for trains.

“Commonsense does apply when crossing, but that doesn’t mean not everyone will have that,” said Tusini-Hetutu.

“I’m always having to stop and check because the barrier arms are not there. You just have to do the double, triple check.”

Each year, on average, three people die, six people suffer a serious injury and there are 140 reported near-miss incidents at railway level crossings.

With more trains set for the Wairarapa line, new safety measures and barriers are planned for the 30 public level crossings between the Remutaka Tunnel and Masterton.

There is also a proposal for five crossings, that are considered dangerous, to be closed.

Questions still remain as to how effective new barriers be and how people will accept these closures.

Public Interest Journalism Fund