A Wellington tennis player’s near miss after running in front of a freight train to retrieve a ball has been blasted as “absolute idiocy” by a witness.
Tawa local David Bewick was shocked to see the player dash in front of the oncoming train last night, making it to safety with seconds to spare.
“I yelled at him to stop, there’s a train coming. He ignored me and went straight to the railway tracks to retrieve his ball,” said Bewick.
The DL class locomotive train, which weighs about 108 tonnes according to KiwiRail, had at least 25 freight cars attached.
“The train driver could see what was happening and blasted his horn really loud and long to try and get the tennis player out of the way,” Bewick said.
The Tawa Tennis Club is next to the North Island Main Trunk Railway and is part of the suburban rail network of Wellington.
“I have to tell you my heart was in my mouth,” Bewick said.
Bewick was on his usual walk along the Ara Tawa trail, when he stopped to watch the train drive by.
After a tennis ball flew over the fence and onto the rail, a man who appeared to be in his 20s ran over from the club.
Using his tennis racket to grab the ball, the man ducked out of the train’s way just in time before jogging back to the tennis court area “as though nothing had happened”.
“It’s just absolute idiocy.”
Bewick questioned the worth of a tennis ball over someone’s life.
Tennis balls can be bought for as low as 80c each from Bunnings.
“This young man put his own life at significant risk.”
Bewick has seen the odd tennis ball on the track, but had never seen someone run in front of a train to get them.
He said he had contacted Tawa Tennis Club, telling them to remind players not to go on rail lines, especially when trains were coming.
TrackSAFE foundation manager Megan Drayton said a fully-laden freight train can take up to a kilometre to stop once they’d hit the emergency brakes.
“If there’s something on the tracks in front of them ... there’s not very much they can do.”
Drayton hoped the Tawa Tennis Club would advise members not to retrieve balls from the railway.
“It’s a tennis ball, right? What are they worth? Our advice to them would be if your tennis balls go anywhere onto the rail corridor then goodbye to that tennis ball because it is just too unsafe to go and retrieve them.”
Drayton advised that everyone must stay at least 5m away from either side of a track, as there is risk of being hit by a side a of train, or being sucked under into its vacuum.
She said the incident was “horrifying” for both the person close to being hit, and the driver of the train.
KiwiRail warned even close calls could take a huge toll on train drivers.
“KiwiRail reminds the public that the rail corridor is an unforgiving environment and the consequences of a collision can be catastrophic.”
It said people should only ever cross the tracks at official level crossings, where they should cross with care, obey the warning signs and look carefully in both directions for trains.
“Trains can appear at any time whether they are expected or not.
“They travel faster than they appear to and take much longer to stop than people realise.”
New Zealand had nine rail fatalities last year, most of which were not at level crossings and were unauthorised members of the public, according to NZTA rail safety statistics.
Over the hill in Lower Hutt, a person died last year on the tracks at Waterloo Station, with half-a-dozen secondary students as witnesses.
Tawa Tennis Club spokesman Richard Rumbal said they will be reminding all members of the dangers of going onto the railway line to retrieve balls.
“The committee is aware of the situation and is addressing it directly with the individual involved,” he said in a statement.
“Player safety is paramount. We strongly reinforce that going onto the railway line to retrieve equipment is not worth the risk.”
“If a ball leaves the court and enters the railway area it must be left.”
Sammy Carter is a journalist for the New Zealand Herald covering news in the Wellington region. She has previously worked at the Rotorua Daily Post.