A man, believed to be in his 20s, died when he was hit at a level crossing at Morningside last night.
KiwiRail spokeswoman Jenni Austin said two trains were at the crossing - one had just passed through and a second, westbound service carrying 140 passengers hit the man just before 7pm.
Albert and Eden community board member Graham East said the accident was "inevitable".
"We are dealing with an event of extremely low probability, but very very serious consequences.
"We've had a fatal accident and a serious injury accident on the crossing in two years and what I can gather from local residents is there have also been a couple of lesser things which didn't make the headlines."
Mr East said he accepted that KiwiRail had done everything it could do in terms of pedestrian safety, given it was a level crossing but he would like to see the crossing over or under the railway line using either a bridge or tunnel.
"The difficulty is that costs an arm and a leg - a total fortune," he said.
Mr East said that until improvements could be made, pedestrians needed to take extra care at level crossings across the city.
"One clear message is that everybody needs to take care around level crossing regardless of whether they think they have the right of way.
"Everyone needs to stop, look left, and then look right."
A KiwiRail spokesman said the terrible accident highlighted the need for people to cross at railway lines correctly at all times.
"I think the message from us is that it just reinforces the need for people to be safe and keep safe at the rail corridor at all times.
"Trains can come in any direction and they travel a lot quicker than people might think, they can't stop very quickly."
Witnesses told the Herald last night that a young woman arrived at the scene just after 8pm. Police escorted her up a platform to where the body was. She was seen crying. A hearse took the body shortly afterwards and a few members of the public stood with their heads bowed as the vehicle drove past.
In 2012, a 22-year-old woman suffered horrific injuries after her wheelchair became stuck in the crossing. Two bystanders rushed to help when they saw a train approaching, but could not free her wheelchair in time and had to throw it out of the train's path.
KiwiRail accepted responsibility after an investigation found the crossing was in a "degraded condition".
Safety measures at Morningside include barrier arms and lights but locals say the crossing is still dangerous.
One said it was the third such accident at the crossing since he moved to the area three years ago.
"There was a guy hit and then a woman who was on her wheelchair -- and now this one," said the man, who did not want to be identified.
"I feel for his family."
Another said sometimes locals run across even when the train's coming. "I've done it myself. I'm never going to do that again."
Transport Accident Investigation Committee (TAIC) spokesman Peter Northcote said it was expecting to receive notification of last night's accident and was still unsure whether the commission would be conducting its own investigation.
