'You can see the trauma on their faces.'

KiwiRail locomotive engineers Brian McKay (front) and Murray Donald in Balclutha. Photos by Craig...
KiwiRail locomotive engineers Brian McKay (front) and Murray Donald in Balclutha. Photos by Craig Baxter.
The locomotive approaches a level crossing.
The locomotive approaches a level crossing.
A ute crosses the tracks against the red signal while the locomotive was stopped in Henley. The...
A ute crosses the tracks against the red signal while the locomotive was stopped in Henley. The vehicle was one of a number that only momentarily stopped to check whether a train was coming.

Reporter David Loughrey takes a ride on a locomotive to see a train driver's point of view of level crossings during Rail Safety Week.  

Of 21 drivers at the Dunedin KiwiRail depot, just six, at most, have not been involved in a level-crossing collision with a car or pedestrian.

There were nine deaths on railway lines around New Zealand last year.

In the past 10 years, there have been 190 collisions between trains and vehicles and 25 collisions with pedestrians, resulting in 27 deaths and 54 serious injuries.

The physical and emotional trauma for families and communities is clear, as is the effect on train drivers involved in each incident, locomotive engineer Brian McKay says.

''You can see the trauma on their faces.''

Rail Safety Week runs until tomorrow, and earlier this week KiwiRail took the Otago Daily Times on a trip from Dunedin to Balclutha to show the problem from the vantage point of a locomotive cab.

That view showed how a driver in charge of hundreds of tonnes of rolling stock might see the horrifying inevitability of a collision well before it happened because the train would not be able to be stopped in time.

Mr McKay, who had been involved in collisions himself, said there was nothing a driver could do in such a situation but put on the brake, and after the 500m or so it took to stop, walk back up the line to see what the damage was.

Of any collision itself, he said: ''There isn't anything you can do - we're helpless.''

Drivers would render what assistance they could, but particularly for pedestrian collisions, the first aid training they had was of little use.

And in the days and weeks after the incident drivers would dream about it at night.

''It constantly keeps coming up.''

The trip to Balclutha showed a surprising number of crossings, from farm driveways to country roads, to more major roads with flashing signals.

While the locomotive was stopped before a signalled crossing at Henley, many cars ran the lights, some after hardly stopping to see what was coming.

Auckland-based KiwiRail zero-harm manager Aaron Temperton said it was ''the needlessness of the tragedy that gets us''.

''What people don't see is the impact it has on our people.

''We have people who have left the industry because they can't cope with it.''

People just needed to be aware, Mr Temperton said.

''The train doesn't just jump out and attack you.

''The train is coming - you see it coming if you stop and look.

''Expect the train, because any time of the day or night 1000 tonnes, 2000 tonnes could be hurtling towards you.''

KiwiRail's campaign aims to get drivers off autopilot when crossing railway tracks, and accept negotiating a crossing requires their full attention.

On the line south of Dunedin 15 trains used the track every day.

Southern district road policing manager Inspector Tania Baron said crossing on a red signal at a level crossing could result in a $150 infringement notice and 20 demerit points.

Police had joined KiwiRail for Rail Safety Week, patrolling level crossings, and would continue to do so in future.

david.loughrey@odt.co.nz

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