Mother mystified why son used train crossing

The pedestrian crossing where Jeremiah Tito (inset) was struck does not have barrier arms. Picture / Martin Sykes

Jeremiah Tito knew the danger of trains, and his family is at a loss to explain why he was near the tracks when a southbound train struck him.

Helena Tito said she "drummed into" Jeremiah to take a pedestrian bridge that runs over the tracks at Papatoetoe.

Jeremiah also learned about train safety as a pupil at Papatoetoe West Primary School, before moving to Kedgley Intermediate this year.

Police and train company Veolia Transport are now investigating how the 11-year-old was struck by the train on Tuesday night.

Jeremiah had dinner with his family and then asked his mother if he could walk his female cousins and a friend home.

Police said Jeremiah was near a pedestrian crossing, which had lights and bells operating to warn the train was approaching, when he was hit just after 6pm.

Helena Tito said she always told her son to use the footbridge above the tracks.

"I drummed it into my kids thousands of times, not just about [trains] but stranger-danger and drink-driving, all those things.

"I'm at a loss after that. What happened?

"I always told him never to cross [the tracks] and always use the bridge. When we were living on Shirley Rd [near the train station] I would walk up to make sure he used the bridge and I would watch him."

Veolia Transport chief executive Chris White said there would be an investigation.

Jeremiah's death was the first pedestrian fatality in two years.

"Obviously it is an incredibly tragic event and we need to minimise these kinds of things, but it is a relatively rare occurrence," he said.

Zyon Batten, 5, was struck by a northbound train near the Takanini rail station in June 2004.

Mr White said the train was slowing down when Jeremiah was hit and the driver, along with an off-duty police officer, went to give assistance to the injured boy, who died 3 1/2 hours later in Middlemore Hospital.

There is no barrier arm on the pedestrian crossing, and a spokesman for state-owned railway infrastructure company Ontrack said there were no plans to install barriers at the station, but it would look at the findings of investigations into the accident.

Miss Tito said she wanted to remember Jeremiah for the way he lived his life, not how he died.

"I would prefer people not speculate on how he died, but how he lived. He had a lot of empathy for people. He would always stick up for the girls. He was so full of life."

Kedgley Intermediate principal Paul Murphy said Jeremiah was an "outstanding young boy" who played for a junior rugby team and was class librarian.

"He was really into learning through computers and his reading had improved dramatically."

Papatoetoe West primary principal Trevor Canute said train education was important at the school, which Jeremiah attended for five years.