Police name two victims in car-train collision

Police have today named the pair killed when their car and a freight train collided at a level crossing in Mid-Canterbury yesterday.

They were James Allan Byron, 28, from Rakaia, and Jonathon Wards, 31, from Methven.

A third man, in his 20s, was flown to Christchurch Hospital with serious injuries.

Police enquiries are continuing, said Inspector Michael Coulter of police southern communications.

The crash between the car and the southbound freight train happened at the Hatfield-Overdale Road crossing, 2km south of Rakaia, just off State Highway 1 about 1.50pm yesterday.

It was on a private road.

KiwiRail said today's crash was the third recorded at the level crossing. The most recent was in 2007, the first in 1980.

Traffic on the road was less than a quarter of what KiwiRail would consider to be the threshold for installing active alarms such as flashing lights and bells or barrier arms.

Statistics showed the rail network south of Christchurch accounted for 40 per cent of the country's level crossing collisions in the last five years.

The rail network between Christchurch and Dunedin also had 37 per cent of New Zealand's level crossings.

- NZPA