The Dunedin Railway Station is one of New Zealand's most photographed buildings and otherwise frustrated motorists may have been pleased to discover yesterday that an invisible train is another big attraction.
The ghostly train apparently made its presence felt after the red lights flashed, warning bells rang and barrier arms came down at the St Andrew St railway level crossing, just north of the station, before 1pm.
Two large trucks were stranded, one either side of the barrier arms, for at least 10 minutes before being able to move off, and several cars managed to reverse or otherwise turn away from the Anzac Ave side of the crossing to continue their travel.
But, on this occasion, despite the longer-than-expected wait, the usual predictably visible train never arrived.
A KiwiRail spokeswoman said the signalling equipment that activated the barrier arms, lights and bells at St Andrew St had been ''vandalised''.
''As a result, the barrier arms, lights and bells activated automatically to ensure the safety of crossing users.
''KiwiRail's signalling team attended and repaired the damage within 10 minutes of being made aware of the vandalism.''
It was ''unfortunate'' that motorists had been inconvenienced and and Kiwi Rail would like to hear from anyone who saw any suspicious behaviour in the area yesterday, the spokeswoman said.
Police said they were alerted by KiwiRail at 12.51pm.
