Family grieves as KiwiRail laments bridge fatality
Family and the community of a girl killed trying to outrun an oncoming train in Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia say she was a ‘‘beautiful soul’’.
Moareen Rameka was struck by the freight train on a rail bridge in the Waikato town on Sunday evening.
The 11-year-old was with other youngsters playing on the tracks on the bridge when they heard the train approaching and tried to run off the bridge.
Her older sister, Joanna Lines, has started a Givealittle page to help towards the costs of Moareen’s funeral.
‘‘The family is in devastation as her death was such a shock to us all,’’ the page says. ‘‘I’ve created this page on behalf of my family and baby sister to help them with anything in need. Anything will be a blessing towards this tragedy.’’
By last night the page had raised $6755.
‘‘Finding out my little sister died has got to be one of the saddest news anyone could ever hear . . . ,’’ Lines posted.
Moareen is the second child to die on the Nga¯ruawa¯hia rail bridge since 2000.
In 2002, 9-year-old Jayden Nerihana Tepu lost his footing on the bridge and was struck and killed by a southbound train.
‘‘Last year we slowed the trains down and we had people trying to access the train and jump off it.’’ Peter Reidy
KiwiRail chief executive
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the corporation had gone to considerable lengths to stop people accessing the bridge.
‘‘We have worked deeply with the local community at all options – significant fencing, anti-trespass measures, weekly checks of the fencing, burying fencing underground.’’
Drivers regularly reported instances of trespassing, bridge jumping and stones being hurled at trains, he said. People played chicken with trains. One driver had reported 13 incidents on the Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia bridge.
There needed to be a ‘‘whole of community’’ approach. ‘‘It’s primarily adults or youths jumping off the bridge, trying to access the bridge or jumping off trains. It’s not just children.
‘‘The next step is to go deep in the community to get people to take ownership and get people to stay away from the bridge.
‘‘But everything is on the table. We’re keen to work with the community to stop adults, youths and children going near the bridge.’’
On Sunday evening, the driver had a trainee in the cab. ‘‘Both of them will be struggling with this right now.’’
Electronic gates had been suggested, but that would add to the risks as they could trap a person on the bridge. ‘‘The other option is widening the bridge so people can jump clear – once again you’re inviting people to play on the bridge.
‘‘Last year we slowed the trains down and we had people trying to access the train and jump off it.’’