Moareen Rameka, 11, died after jumping off the Ngaruawahia rail bridge in March. Photo / File
Moareen Rameka, 11, died after jumping off the Ngaruawahia rail bridge in March. Photo / File
A young girl killed when she was struck by a train travelling through Ngāruawāhia earlier this year could have survived if the locomotive was going slightly slower, a coroner says.
Which was why Coroner Gordon Matenga ordered KiwiRail to make further submissions on the topic when he reserved his decisioninto the death of Moareen Rameka in the Hamilton Coroner's Court today.
The decision was applauded by Moareen's family who say trains go too fast through the small North Waikato town.
Moareen, 11, had been playing on the tracks with a friend about 5.45pm on March 18 when a train sounded its horn as it rounded the final bend before the rail bridge.
Moareen's friend was slightly ahead of her and able to jump to safety in time. Moareen was struck just a few metres short of her escape.
Senior Constable Lisa Herewini told the coroner Moareen was in good spirits when she was farewelled by her mother from her Great South Rd home earlier that day.
"She had been all day playing with the local kids and was not expected to be anywhere around the bridge area as she had been previously told not to go there."
Moareen and her friend had been playing on the tracks for about an hour when the train approached from the south.
"As the train approached the bridge the arm barrier on Old Taupiri Rd went down and the bells began ringing."
At the same time, Ngāruawāhia resident Rangita Wilson was running along the car bridge when she saw the train approaching and yelled "run baby run".
The train drivers saw the girls and sounded the train's whistle continuously.
But both the drivers and Wilson could only watch as the friend jumped onto the embankment below and Moareen was struck.
"Moareen has not been able to run as quickly and instead was jumping from sleeper to sleeper. The train continued and approximately 5m from the end of the bridge the right hand side of the train collided with Moareen causing her to be thrown 5m from the impact and coming to rest 2m down a grass bank," Herewini said.
Asked by Sergeant Grant Wolland for suggestions to improve safety, Wilson said it would take a combination of initiatives including sounding the alarm earlier and lowering the speed.
"What I did notice is that the train was going really fast. I saw that [Moareen] wasn't going to make it."
KiwiRail chief operating officer Henare Clark said lowering the speed offered dangers on not only his staff - who had stones thrown at them - but it also encouraged kids to climb the bridge and jump down onto the trains.
Waikato district councillor and Ngāruawāhia community board member Janet Gibb said they had been working with other authorities and agencies on a raft of solutions and suggestions since 2015.
Education programmes had already been implemented and proved successful for younger children but older kids had not shown any interest, she said.
Moareen Rameka's whanau, including her sisters, brothers and cousins and her parents Joe Rameka, front blue hat, and Juanita Lines, second from right, at her inquest today. Photo / Belinda Feek
Building a platform near the tracks had been ruled out as it simply drew local children "like a magnet" to the bridge. Instead, they had been interested in an idea from a former local and "expert bomber" about building a new platform further away.
However, she added they "need to stop [children] from going there in the first place."
However, that would require Waikato Regional Council resource consent and also draw implications of responsibility under Health and Safety laws.
Mike Fleck was supervising the rookie train driver, Nathan Anderson, behind the wheel that day.
He said 60kmh was a safe speed to travel through the town but said they could travel slower.
It was already compulsory for train drivers to sound their "warning whistle" when they were rounding the final corner before the bridge, he said, while drivers had other opportunities at the three other level crossings in the town, which he believed was adequate.
The coroner talked with Clark around the possibility of lowering the speed limits.
"Could we slow it down further than the 60km/h? It's a possibility," Clark replied.
Coroner Matenga said Moareen would likely have been able to jump free had the train been travelling slower.
"I've viewed the CCTV that's been available of this incident and my perception of it is that a few more seconds would have made a difference in this case," he told Clark.
"One [girl] was able to jump off...but there was nowhere for Moareen until she went just a little bit further and she could have jumped. That's the issue here, can we slow it down ... and buy even more time for our little ones."
Outside court, Moareen's mother, Juanita Lines said lowering the speed "would be a great idea" and she believed trains currently travelled too fast through the town.
