Rail crossing vandalism putting lives at risk

A spate of vandalism at Christchurch railway crossings is testing road users' patience and putting lives at risk, says KiwiRail.

There have been up to 18 incidents of vandalism at railway crossings in Christchurch in the last two months causing significant disruption to road users, KiwiRail network manager Todd Moyle said.

When level crossings were damaged they went into a "failsafe" mode, meaning barrier arms will come down and bells will go off until the fault is fixed, Mr Moyle said.

This can be very frustrating for road users and people who live nearby as warning barrier arms and bells can go off for an hour or more, often at night, he said.

KiwiRail urged drivers not to put their lives at risk by ignoring crossing barriers.

"We understand how frustrating it is but please don't put your lives at risk - the safest thing for drivers to do is to use an alternative route," Mr Moyle said.

Kiwirail was working with police to find the culprits but in the meantime urged people to not become complacent around level crossings.

- NZPA