Bells will save lives, but make people’s ears ring
Level crossings where warning bells are turned down for sleeping neighbours are being replaced as the number of ‘‘near misses’’ with trains increases.
KiwiRail is installing warning systems with ‘‘quiet bells’’ at select crossings where there are no alarms or where bells are turned off between 10.30pm and 7am.
The state-owned rail operator said there were about 90 crossings nationwide where bells were turned down after hours – 15 in the Wellington metropolitan area.
A KiwiRail spokeswoman said the old system was no longer considered safe and was being ‘‘phased out’’ after a spate of near misses with pedestrians.
The electronic bells are adjustable to a minimum of 75 A-weighted decibels (dBa) below the standard 85 to 105 dBa. KiwiRail has so far installed the system at 56 crossings.
Tracksafe Foundation manager Megan Drayton was supportive of any measure that could save lives and said that increases in near misses was a worrying trend worldwide.
‘‘We think that may, in part, be to do with our increasing reliance on mobile technology. A number of collisions in the past three years have been directly attributed to people wearing headphones and failing to look for trains.’’
There were 71 near misses in the 12 months to June this year compared with 17 in the same period in 2013.
More than 100 people have died in collisions with trains in New Zealand since 2012.
For one Lower Hutt resident, the quiet bells have not been quiet enough.
Michael Williams lives near the pedestrian level crossing north of Epuni Station, which previously had no bells or lights.
Williams said the bells, installed in August, were so ‘‘jarring’’ he had started timing his bedtime to between trains. ‘‘It wakes you up like an alarm clock wakes you up. If the bells go off – then boom, you’re wide awake.’’
They had also become an issue when the commuter trains started rolling past from Upper Hutt before 6am each day.
KiwiRail said the volume had been reduced to the lowest level in line with international safety standards on Monday.
Williams understood the warning system was there to save lives but questioned why it needed to be so loud, particularly at night. He wanted the bells switched off at night or at least have their volume turned down.
The spokeswoman said they had reduced the sound level of the bells to 75 dBa. That particular crossing had been upgraded because of the number of near misses there in the past.
The crossing to the south of Epuni Station is scheduled to be upgraded next year.
A number of collisions have been directly attributed to people wearing headphones.’’ Megan Drayton