Executive summary
At about 1525 hours on 17 August 1998 a group of secondary school students were crossing the Henderson rail yard at the south end. A cyclist in the group dismounted to cross the rails, and while pushing his bicycle fell in front of train 2125, a southbound diesel multiple unit passenger train. The youth received serious injuries requiring amputation of one leg.
The safety issue identified was the established trespass in the area, despite the presence of a pedestrian overbridge. A number of safety actions were taken by the operator, the school, the local authority and other community groups to address the problem at Henderson, and 7 safety recommendations were made to address the general problem of established trespass.
Related Recommendations
Advises all secondary school boards of the circumstances of the Henderson accident and suggests that boards in the vicinity of a rail corridor, which may have similar problems, raise the issue of potential hazards in the rail environment with students and co-operate with Tranz Rail, local authorities, and other affected local groups to develop and implement specific local action plans to minimise or eliminate hazards.
Reviews the effectiveness of the Tranz Rail safety system to provide safe access for rail service users at suburban commuter stations.
In conjunction with the appropriate local authorities reviews the effectiveness of the current policy with respect to the provision and maintenance of fencing in areas such as North Auckland, the Hutt Valley and other similar suburban areas to minimise trespass at known high risk areas.
Considers the use of key performance indicators to define trespass problems at high risk localities and assess the effectiveness of any improvements made to reduce risk.
Liaises with local authorities and schools to develop and implement specific action plans to reduce hazards at defined high risk localities.
Advises all authorities of the circumstances of the Henderson accident to alert those which may have similar problems to the desirability of taking action with their local schools, Tranz Rail and other affected local groups to develop and implement locality specific action plans to reduce hazards.
Brings to the attention of all suburban authorities with rail corridor access within their boundaries the desirability of working with Tranz Rail to provide effective fencing at recognised high risk areas.