Rail Safety Week: New signs near Whanganui's high risk rail crossings unveiled

Jarrod Colville, John Keenan, Debbie Webster, Trevor Scarrow and Alastair Mayston at the Heads Rd crossing, promoting driver safety around level crossings. Photo / Bevan Conley

New skins for safety signs at Whanganui rail crossings have been revealed as part of Rail Safety Week.

The new skins, printed with "Stay alert around tracks" - the theme for this Rail Safety Week, were put on signs on each side of the Heads Rd crossing near Beach Rd, one of Whanganui's most notorious railway crossings.

The campaign aims to raise awareness about rail safety and to encourage safe behaviour around trains, railway tracks and level crossings.

Horizons Regional Council, KiwiRail and police were at the Heads Rd site on Wednesday, urging motorists to remain actively aware of the risks of level crossings.

Whanganui has 19 level crossings within the city, many of which are on main thoroughfares such as Purnell, Guyton, Liverpool and Glasgow streets, as well as the northernmost point of Victoria Ave.

Horizons Regional Council road safety co-ordinator Debbie Webster said it was a good opportunity to remind locals to be cautious around railway crossings.

"We are doing a few other things around the town over the next few days and KiwiRail have been doing presentations at schools around Whanganui."

Webster said a set of new signs would be installed near the Glasgow St crossing, another risk area.

Fellow road safety co-ordinator Alastair Mayston said the campaign's message was "wake up".

"When you look at the stats, the majority of crashes are happening in the morning. It's just highlighting that intersections are dangerous places and to be aware of the risks."

Most crashes over the past 10 years have happened between 8am and noon.

Jarrod Colville of KiwiRail said there had been a few close calls over the past few years where people had made assumptions at rail crossings.

"There are trains that go through here a couple of times a day, and they may see them slow down. People can think they may be allowing the traffic to go ahead, which is wrong. They're actually overplaying the caution card.

"We don't want the general public to feel that the train is giving way. Always give way to the train."

Constable Trevor Scarrow said Whanganui police had been doing some cellphone spotting at the high-risk intersection over the past few weeks.

"We are alarmed at the number of people approaching the tracks on their phones. My message is just get off your phone and look at what's coming towards you, because you will come off second best."