26 Mar 2017

Call for rail crossing barriers after road death

1:47 pm on 26 March 2017

Matamata-Piako District Council wants to talk to KiwiRail about installing barrier arms at a dangerous crossing before anyone else is killed.

Rail Crossing

A railway crossing. Photo: 123RF

A person died on Thursday when a freight train and a car collided at the crossing around Piako Road and State Highway 26.

KiwiRail said it planned to install barrier arms at the level crossing, but not until June.

Matamata-Piako mayor Jan Barnes said the council has had calls from locals concerned about the crossing.

Ms Barnes said it was a busy spot, and she wanted people to come forward if they had near misses.

"[On] Monday morning I do want to be able to talk to Kiwirail and follow up on this - and New Zealand Land Transport," she said.

"Just where do we go from here, can we have barriers installed and is there a ... way forward.

"I think it's more than a rural intersection, I think there is a lot of traffic, our district is growing and I do want to have that conversation."

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs