A person is dead after being hit by a train in Otumoetai early Wednesday morning.
Emergency services were called to the scene alongside Ngatai Road near Otumoetai Road at 5.41am.
Police have confirmed a pedestrian is dead as a result of being hit by the train.
The body is believed to be an adult male.
Western Bay of Plenty Police Area Commander Inspector Clifford Paxton says police were advised a train had struck a pedestrian earlier today.
'There are no suspicious circumstances.
'Police are investigating the incident at the moment and ask that members of the public stay away from the area.”
Neighbours at the scene say they heard the train's whistle sounding in the early hours of today.
Police have cordoned off the side of the Ngatai Road that leads down to the train tracks.
A vehicle parked on the roadside was towed away, and media were warned to exercise some ‘sensitivity' when taking photos.
The train driver is receiving support from Victim Support services.
Firefighters are on scene washing down the train tracks.
Police are asking the public to stay away from the scene while they investigate.
Police have cordoned off an area of Ngatai Road leading down to the railway tracks.
33 comments
Sad
Posted on 02-08-2012 08:39 | By penguin
Besides the death of someone, I feel for the locomotive driver who would have been unable to avoid the situation. The image will remain with him for life.
speeding train
Posted on 02-08-2012 09:07 | By pressman
I live near the tracks, and although I feel sorry for the driver, it could be avoided if the train was going slower. Just lately the trains are going through at full speed. But once again it is probably all about profit. The faster we get the goods there the more money for the corporates.
I predict...
Posted on 02-08-2012 09:20 | By wreck1080
A child will be killed by a train at Kulim park. The fencing is woefully inadequate, I've seen kids playing on the rail lines there. Hope not, but, it's dangerous.
speeding train
Posted on 02-08-2012 10:02 | By cptn scully
Hey Pressman ,Trains are allowed to go along the railway tracks spped or no speed People are not!!!
Trains fault?
Posted on 02-08-2012 10:04 | By Zena
its always made out to be like its the trains fault someone has died? the train only goes on the tracks so moral of the story dont walk on the train tracks and u wont get hit by the train. dont get me wrong i feel for the guy that has passed away its very sad, but same with cars hitting power polls, its not like the power poll jumps out on the road and hits the car? but i agree better fencing should be put up and speed reduced to help lessen the risk.
Be real
Posted on 02-08-2012 10:22 | By penguin
While "pressman's” comment has some validity, let's look at reality. Short of a train travelling at walking pace, stopping up to 1000 - 1500 tonnes of mass takes a long time even under emergency breaking conditions (up to 1 kilometre). Depending on the amount of forward visibility, weather and track conditions and whether or not a person suddenly appears on the tracks, it takes some time to stop a train at any speed. I have lived beside the railway in Ngatai Road (only metres from the track) for some time and know that trains travel at varying speeds. There has to be an acceptance of reality as to what is practical - taking all day to get to Auckland at a slow speed e.g. 24 hours @10km/h or being realistic Besides, the risk factors of being hurt by a train are far outweighed by those incurred in everyday road traffic!
horrible
Posted on 02-08-2012 10:29 | By porky
must of been so horrible for the driver. how can people not hear or see trains?? why do they walk on the tracks?? surely you can't blame the trains for not being visible!
More reality
Posted on 02-08-2012 10:31 | By penguin
I am rather astounded by "wreck1080's" comment. Following his/her logic, we obviously need to put fences along all roadways, streams, rivers and beaches to protect children from themselves! Come on - where are the parents? We could wrap everyone in cotton wool and assume that it will protect them or we could all work together and educate children (and some adults) about rail safety.
Very Sad
Posted on 02-08-2012 11:04 | By bigted
Walking along railway track @ 5:30 am - very dark and wet. Gotta wonder. Another danger point is maxwells road railway bridge.
KULIM PARK
Posted on 02-08-2012 11:19 | By mattanddel
Why is it that children are playing on train tracks?Surely this comes down to parents not supervising their children properly.This incedent today is terrible but we all know the risks of railway tracks so the blame can't be put on the train going to fast for the sake of profits.
poor drivers
Posted on 02-08-2012 11:26 | By indiesmum
i feel incredibly sorry for the drivers in incidents such as these especially when people deliberately throw themselves at trains and the drivers have to live with this. i dont believe speed is an issue. speed limits apply to trains aswell.
Taking responsibility
Posted on 02-08-2012 11:31 | By ThePolychronopolis
pressman, wreck1080 are what's wrong with society today - blaming other people for incidents like this when it really comes down to taking responsibility for your own actions. The railway tracks are for trains, not pedestrians. If your on the tracks when a train comes, expect problems. To be on the tracks where this person was hit takes quite a bit of effort, they certainly weren't on there by accident!
@penguin
Posted on 02-08-2012 11:44 | By wreck1080
You need to understand, this is a childrens playground, right next to a railway with poor fencing - a 2 year old can get through. The fencing is also obscured by a bush area in which the kids play. Certainly, this is one place I think they should install better fencing due to the proximity to the childrens playground. No, they shouldn't fence the entire length of the railway -- just where there are specific dangers to young children.
@mattanddel
Posted on 02-08-2012 11:47 | By wreck1080
It is impossible to watch kids 100% of the time. If you have 6 or 7 kids (several families) at a playground all running around the different slides/swings , running into the bush area (there are little trails in the bush), you can easily lose track for a couple of minutes. I see no problem with building a higher fence adjacent to the playground.
@wreck1080
Posted on 02-08-2012 12:22 | By penguin
I know the park very well and have been there on numerous occasions with grandchildren and whole groups/families. It is not that hard to watch kids. After all, surely this is what being a responsible parent is all about? Fences (short of electric) will not stop any child who is determined to climb over.
And Yet......
Posted on 02-08-2012 12:32 | By Donnaw
There is going to be kids playground build on the strand, between both tracks and water....makes sense huh...cant kids climb fences, i know i could, comes down to parenting if you ask me, and its not a matter of wrapping them in cotton wool, if your a parent and you dont know where your young child is, then shame on you.
sad sad sad
Posted on 02-08-2012 12:59 | By tc1724
There is no way the driver of this train could have avoided this situation. If someone steps in front of a train there is not a chance the train is ever going to stop in time to avoiding hitting the pedestrian, even if they were going slower. If a train driver applies emergency brakes travelling at approx 50kms per hour the train will take around 1km to come to a full stop. Imagine being the driver in this situation. :-<
Some vacuose comments today!
Posted on 02-08-2012 13:57 | By SpeakUp
Nobody 'had a walk' or playtime on the tracks. Holes in fences are not to blame. The speed of a train hasn't got anything to do with it. And the train whistle was adequate. A person parks their car at 5:30 beside a railway line, heads down to the tracks and has an accident?
was he deaf?
Posted on 02-08-2012 15:17 | By Calm Gully
I agree with Porky, you can see and hear these trains no matter what speed they are going. Tracks are for trains, Otumoetai has lots of walking tracks. I feel sorry for the train driver.
Rastus
Posted on 02-08-2012 15:43 | By rastus
I cannot believe what I am reading from presumably a parent who says '"It is impossible to watch kids 100% of the time. If you have 6 or 7 kids (several families) at a playground all running around the different slides/swings , running into the bush area (there are little trails in the bush), you can easily lose track for a couple of minutes." I would say to you that if you lose sight of a 2 year old for 2 minutes and in that time, that child suffers death through an avoidable accident, then you my friend should be in court charged as being responsible for that childs death - if you have chilldren then its YOUR responsibility to care 100% for them 24/7! - Oh I see, you think someone else should be responsoble - you make me sick!
train tracks
Posted on 02-08-2012 15:45 | By Glen Clova
Why don't we we get the railways to employ a man to walk in front of the engine with a loud haler to warn people to get off the tracks.
Sad
Posted on 02-08-2012 16:05 | By tabatha
It is sad that some people are using this accident that has traumatised an engine driver, had fire, police and ambulance tied up and all they can say is about their children. My sympathy goes to those involved with the accident and their families these others grow and tack responsibility.
@rastus
Posted on 02-08-2012 16:06 | By wreck1080
A nasty person like you would never be a friend of mine so don't call yourself such. You make a presumption that this was an experience with my children. I've seen children playing on these tracks. I know from being a parent it is impossible to watch children 100% of the time. I think the playground by kulim park is dangerous. I wouldn't necessarily blame the parents though if something did happen. The fencing is woefully inadequate, but it is concealed behind some bushes so parents may not be aware of this.
For wreck1080
Posted on 02-08-2012 17:10 | By penguin
I know the park very well and have been there on numerous occasions with grandchildren and whole groups/families. It is not that hard to watch kids. After all, surely this is what being a responsible parent is all about? Fences (short of electric) will not stop any child who is determined to climb over.
Gob smacked...
Posted on 02-08-2012 18:14 | By Batty
how this has turned into we need a fence for the playground to look after the kids.Yes.. but a fence is not fool proof... LOL.Surely if you are not happy about the train and rail there take the kids to a different park where you can keep an eye on them.Yes Rastus..completely aree to your response for this too. '"It is impossible to watch kids 100% of the time. If you have 6 or 7 kids (several families) at a playground all running around the different slides/swings , running into the bush area (there are little trails in the bush), you can easily lose track for a couple of minutes." I would say to you that if you lose sight of a 2 year old for 2 minutes and in that time, that child suffers death through an avoidable accident, then you my friend should be in court charged as being responsible for that childs death - if you have chilldren then its YOUR responsibility to care 100% for them 24/7! - watching your kids is what one signs up for benig a parent, and if one is to take a bunch of everybody elses to the park bring the other parents to each watch their own.. We used to and no problems.Teach your kids about trains as you would for road safety The two transport systems are pretty much the same only the Train is generally the most unforgiving. Has it come out yet what the Man may have been diong on the tracks... ...Heart goes out to the driver.
Council
Posted on 02-08-2012 18:40 | By Accountable
And Council is to continue with the building of a children's playground next to the railway line in the CBD. That's the mentality of the Council,Priority One and the City Centre Action Group.Not one brain between the lot of them.
??????
Posted on 02-08-2012 18:53 | By nickkki
not kulim park people this happened no where near .....
observer
Posted on 03-08-2012 08:47 | By The author of this comment has been removed.
its clear that this person intended to be there and have this encounter with the training - knowing the result
Hey 'wreck1080...
Posted on 03-08-2012 10:06 | By penguin
To take a quote directly from your posting.."I know from being a parent it is impossible to watch children 100% of the time. I think the playground by kulim park is dangerous." The solution is quite simple - if you are that worried and concerned, DON'T TAKE YOUR KIDS THERE! As far as I am aware, there have never been any incidents with children and trains at Kulim Park despite thousands of people of all ages going there each year. It may have escaped you but the death incident the other day was NOT at Kulim Park. By the way, you might also need to keep away from Memorial Park since the miniature trains there do not have fences to protect the public!
LEARN TO READ
Posted on 03-08-2012 21:01 | By britt.jones
If you all care to look, it states that the victim (if that's what i can call the person) is an ADULT MALE. So I don't know why you all are commenting about children. If your scared about your children getting run over by a train then it's YOUR parenting. It's pretty obvious to hear a train coming guys. To be honest, why would someone drive to the train track at that time in the morning for it to be an "accident" and the way the scene was. I live in this area. I really feel sorry for the train driver in this, and the poor children who walk past this way on the way to school. So stop complaining about your children, if people are going to complain so bad about parents being scared about children getting hurt, why don't we all just live in a damn bubble?
speed
Posted on 06-08-2012 12:45 | By woodroffe
regardless of the stats on a trains stopping distance, here are some on allowed speeds in this area Trucks- actively discouraged from using these roads 50km/hr Cars - 50km/hr Trains - 80km/hr (as per information from Kiwirail dec 2011) Why are freight trains allowed to travel 60% faster than the speed of a truck or car in a residential area? And no, I am not recommending the entire main trunk line is 50km, however, I am asking why in a residential area.
Because, Woodroffe
Posted on 14-08-2012 13:31 | By Persephone
the only thing that has any business being on a railway is a train. And before anyone bleats on about level crossings, roads cross rails, not vice-versa. When you are on a railway track, you are in the trains territory. End of story. When I was a kid, we were taught to keep away from railway tracks. Guess why. When I was learning to drive, we were taught to slow down at level crossings and check for trains; not to trust alarms and barriers. Guess why. But now, in our oh-so politically correct world, we are no longer expected to take any responsibility for our own actions. Everything is someone else's fault. That's why we keep seeing news headlines claiming that people, cars etc have been "hit by a train".
Obviously
Posted on 15-08-2012 13:49 | By upandcomingjourno
Very sad as it may be. We dont need to spaz out about train saftey (as a result of this incident), just as we don't spaz out about ropes being dangerous as the result of many other incidents anually. In New Zealand our children are more likely to commit suicide than be killed by a train.
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