KiwiRail cautions truckies after two hit Auckland overbridges in one day

Wednesday, 30 June 2021

A crane rights a truck which rolled on its side after crashing into a rail over-bridge across Humber St in Oamaru. (First published July 2018)

KiwiRail has asked truck drivers to be more aware of the height of their vehicles after two hit rail bridges in Auckland on Tuesday.

KiwiRail spokesman Reuben Araroa said these were the latest in a string of such incidents, with five rail bridges struck in Auckland in the past month.

This week's truck strike at a rail bridge in Glen Innes delayed trains for a short time, but this photo, from a similar incident at the same location in 2012, shows such accidents can create big issues.

After each, rail lines had to be closed and commuters inconvenienced.

“The public and rail operators are potentially at risk if they travel over a damaged or seriously compromised structure,” Araroa said.

* Fashion brand Augustine slammed for illegal photo shoot on train tracks

Collisions with bridges can cause serious damage to the truck or bridge, as occurred in this case in 2017.

* Speed a factor in crash that caused train derailment in Palmerston North

“Any driver who collides with a rail bridge could be liable for the cost of repairing the damage, and any additional losses incurred – as could their company – so please always watch your height.”

This type of crash is becoming increasingly common, Araroa said, with 19 bridge strikes around the country involving over-height trucks so far this year.

Last year, there were 28 bridge strikes recorded nationally.

“Some disruptions can’t be planned for, such as the wild weather we experienced in June, but these types of incidents are entirely avoidable, and yet we are seeing them happen at an alarming frequency,” Araroa said.

“Any strike in Auckland has the potential to disrupt thousands of members of the public who rely on the trains, along with our freight customers.

The back of the Toyota Rav4 car was trashed after it was hit by a train in south Auckland's Papakura.

“It’s an extremely busy period for freight volumes and these bridge strikes delay the movement of goods in and out of Auckland.”

Every time a bridge was struck an inspector had to be dispatched.

“Even if there is not substantial damage, we still have to close the line for a period while we make sure the bridge is safe for trains and people,” Araroa said.

The first collision on Tuesday happened just after 9.30am at Merton Rd in Glen Innes and resulted in Eastern line services being diverted along the Southern line.

Later the same day, a truck struck a rail bridge at McPherson Rd just outside Drury, closing the line for two hours.

Trains were cancelled between Papakura and Pukekohe while KiwiRail staff inspected the bridges.

On Wednesday, a vehicle also struck a passenger train at the Boundary Road level crossing despite the crossing having half-arm barriers.

First Union is the largest union representing truck drivers in New Zealand.

First Union spokesman Jared Abbott said he hadn’t heard of any members recently hitting rail bridges, and it was possibly owner-operators and smaller players trying to maximise the take from their runs that caused the accidents.

“It is very common in this industry that owner-drivers are put under a lot of pressure and the only way they can make money is to cut covers, and often that does mean overloading or doing things which employed truck drivers can’t necessarily get away with to make themselves more competitive.”