Safety appeal as rail services expand

Extra trains which started running in Auckland yesterday have brought an appeal for greater public safety awareness to curb a growing death toll at crossings and stations.

Seven people were killed on Auckland's rail network last year, compared with five in 2003, as train services were ramped up to cope with a 30 per cent leap in patronage.

Regional rail operator Connex has this week added another seven train trips a day each way on new double tracks between Avondale and Britomart, and a similar number of extra services on the southern and eastern lines.

Trains are now timetabled to leave New Lynn just nine minutes apart on some morning peak services, and passengers heading to or from South Auckland are being promised five minutes off their trips on several new limited-stop services looping around the eastern line.

These are to cater for a further expected rise in patronage to 4.2 million passenger trips this financial year, compared with 3.24 million last year and 2.5 million in 2003. But a casualty of the new timetables is the little-used Wiri station, where trains are no longer stopping.

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority is appealing for extra public vigilance, especially at level crossings where tracks have been duplicated in the region's first big rail upgrade in almost half a century, other than Britomart Station.

A $23 million project to create a continuous dual passage for 7.5km from Mt Eden to Avondale is substantially complete, apart from a $4 million reconstruction of the Kingsland railway station, which includes two platforms and an imposing new concrete footbridge.

Both platforms are already in use, but passengers will have to keep using a temporary ramp from Sandringham Rd before a new stairway and lift become available in the coming weeks.

One rail crossing at which motorists and other road users should take particular care is in George St, Kingsland, where Auckland City traffic engineers have expressed concern about "very poor sight lines" for the 2000 or so vehicles travelling that way each day.

Although the crossing is armed with flashing lights and barriers, a bank prevents a clear view to downhill traffic of eastbound trains arriving around a bend.

The city council's previous transport committee recommended last year that the crossing be closed, fearing the new double track and extra trains would make it more hazardous, and deeming it too expensive to build a traffic bridge.

But the council, faced with resistance from residents concerned about having to make longer trips to get from Mt Eden to Kingsland, passed responsibility for the crossing's fate to the regional transport authority.

Authority service delivery manager Jeremy Sutton said the crossing was built to safety specifications set by the Railways Corporation, owner of rail corridors.

Corporation spokesman Laurie Edwards said the crossing was not a high priority for improvement as the last collision there was 10 years ago when there were no safety arms.

He said the arms were installed in 1997 in response to concern arising from the collision, and no incidents had been reported there since then.

Three of the seven deaths on the Auckland rail network last year were on level crossings. There were no deaths on crossings in 2003, although five people were killed on the wider network, whether accidentally or suicidally.

Extra security guards will be posted around the region's stations, and rail officials have been working with the police to deter trespassers on tracks, as well as visiting schools to drive home the safety message.

City rail accidents

Level-crossing collisions:

* 2004: Six with three deaths.
* 2003: Six with one minor injury.

Other incidents causing injury (include suicide attempts):

* 2004: Four deaths, five minor injuries.
* 2003: Five deaths, two serious injuries, seven minor injuries.

Source: Ontrack division of Railways Corporation