Officers on track to improve rail safety

Officers from Central and Tasman Districts are to travel in train cabs to detect offending motorists and reduce crashes at railway crossings.

Inspector Neil Wynne, Central District Road Policing Manager, came up with Operation Locomotive in partnership with Toll Rail. The aim is to better educate the public about the dangers of racing trains across level crossings and take appropriate enforcement action against offenders.

Analysis was undertaken to identify railway crossings where there was a high incidence of failing to comply with rail signals or signs, and the times when this was most likely to occur.

The education campaign, fronted by New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns, aims to reduce the number of crashes and serious injuries involving trains and motor vehicles.

Cairns’ 18-year-old sister, Louise, died with three others in 1993 when a cement truck collided with the train she was on at Rolleston.

Neil says officers will travel in the trains alongside locomotive engineers at random times, working in conjunction with a Highway Patrol vehicle.

“By working closely with Toll Rail in tandem with a wider education campaign we believe we can reduce the number of crashes,” says Neil.

Senior Sergeant Eric Davy, Tasman, has also included the idea in his operational plan.