Do you have what it takes to stay safe around the rail corridor?
Let’s put it to the test…
You wake up to your phone buzzing and see that it’s 7.00am, time to get up and get ready for school!
What do you do next?
B - Get out of bed
A - Snooze your alarm
Now that you’re out of bed and getting sorted for school, you can’t shake that rundown feeling. You’re knackered and you have a splitting headache!
What do you do next?
A - Get in the car
B - Walk to the station
As you approach the level crossing you see a train leaving the station and worry that your train might be arriving soon at the other platform. The lights and bells are still turned on at the crossing.
What do you do next?
B - Cut behind train
A - Wait to cross
A second train was coming on the other track!
You notice just in time and leap backwards.
Phew, that was a close call!
Go back and try again
Lucky you waited before crossing, because a second train was coming on the other track!
Next
Damn, you’ve missed your train! After you cross you walk to the platform to wait for the next one.
What do you do next?
A - Stand at the edge
B - Stand back
Go back and try again
An express freight train comes past and creates a massive vacuum. You lose your balance, but luckily someone else on the platform grabs your arm and stops you from falling. Phew, that was a close call!
Lucky you stood back, because an express freight train came past and created a massive vacuum!
Next
Once your train pulls into the station you spot your mates onboard and go and sit with them. When you all get off the train, they say they’re going to cut across the tracks to save time getting to school.
What do you do next?
A - Take the shortcut
B - Go around
Go back and try again
A maintenance crew spots you and shouts at you to stop. You trip and fall on the rough stones, but your mates keep running. The maintenance worker catches up to you and tells you that the penalty for trespassing in the rail corridor is $10,000.
Go to end
Your mates ignore you and hop down onto the tracks. As you watch them cross to the other side you notice some maintenance workers spot them and follow them out of sight. You see a sign at the edge of the platform and realise that the penalty for trespassing in the rail corridor is $10,000.
You turn around and take the long way to get to school, hoping that your friends will be let off with just a warning.
When you left the house, you decided to turn your music up super loudly. You don’t want to get a detention for sleeping in class and you’re still feeling drowsy. As you approach a level crossing you think about turning the music back down since you’re feeling a bit distracted.
What do you do next?
B – Turn it down
A – Keep it loud
You drive onto the tracks and suddenly realise that the crossing has been activated, you hadn’t heard the bells or noticed the barrier arms coming down! You drive on the other side of the road to get around the barrier and off the crossing. You clip the end of the barrier arm and scrape the side of your car! The cars waiting at the crossing are honking, and you see someone taking a picture of your number plate. What are your parents going to say when they see the scratch?!
Go back and try again
Lucky you turned it down, because the crossing activated and you’re not sure if you would have heard the bells over your loud music!
Next
You spot the train along the track and notice that it’s a long freight train moving pretty slowly. You think about shutting your eyes for just a bit while you wait. The traffic’s stopped, and you’ll hear when the bells turn off, so you should be sweet.
What do you do next?
B – Open the window
A – Shut your eyes
As you sit back and shut your eyes, the gentle rumbling of the train wagons lulls you to sleep. Your foot slips off the brake and the car starts rolling forwards. You jolt awake when you hear the loud crunch of the barrier. You quickly reverse but the barrier is twisted and dangling awkwardly, and it doesn’t go back up when the train goes past. You get out to have a look and decide to call the emergency number on the sign. They tell you to wait while they call out a technician. Traffic is backing up and people are beeping at you and trying to turn around to go another way. As you sit and wait you hope you won’t get in too much trouble…
Go back and try again
As you roll down the window your mind starts to wander, thinking about the homework you didn’t finish last night. The train comes through, and the barrier arms come up again. There are cars stopped on the far side of crossing, but you think about crossing anyway and idling on the yellow cross-hatched lines until the traffic clears. You should be sweet if you just stop for a moment, right?
What do you do next?
B – Stay back
A – Drive across
You’re idling on the crossing when the lights start flashing, and the barrier arms begin to come down, then you hear the freight train coming! You try to drive around the car in front of you but there’s no room. The train’s blaring its horn and screeching as it applies the emergency brakes. It’s still going pretty fast though and you’re not out of the way yet! It clips your rear bumper, sending the car spinning and tossing you around.
Go back and try again
Lucky you didn’t go, because the crossing activated again, and the traffic ahead still hadn’t moved. You would have been stuck on the tracks and right in the path of a freight train if you’d been idling on the yellow lines!
As you drive the rest of the way to school you realise how much being tired has affected your driving this morning. You decide to go to bed earlier tonight.
Go to end
You wake up and realise you’ve slept in way more than you expected, it’s already 8.15 and you’re going to be late!
You quickly get ready, rush out the door and jump in the car.
Next
Halfway to school you approach a level crossing. The car in front of you has slowed right down even though the crossing is clear, so you honk at them to hurry up. Knowing that you’re going to be late for school, you think about overtaking the car so that you won’t stay stuck behind them.
What do you do next?
B – Wait behind the car
A – Overtake the car
You overtake the car in front of you, and drive across the crossing. You hear the woop of a siren and see flashing lights, a cop’s pulling you over! They say that it’s illegal to overtake within 60 metres of a level crossing, and they’re going to ticket you!
Great, now you're just hoping your parents don't catch it when it shows up in the mail...
Go back and try again
The car ahead of you speeds up and makes it across just as the bells start ringing, lights start flashing, and the barrier arm starts coming down. You’re mad about the hold-up, and now you’re going to be even more late for school! You reckon you can you can still nip across in time.
What do you do next?
B – Brake hard
A – Carry on
The barrier arms come down faster than you think! You drive on the other side of the road to get around the barrier and off the crossing. You clip the end of the barrier arm and scrape the side of your car! The cars waiting at the crossing are honking, and you see someone taking a picture of your number plate.
What are your parents going to say when they see the scratch?!
Go back and try again
Lucky you stopped, because the barrier arms came down much faster than you thought!
Next
The train comes through and the barrier arms come up again. The cars on the far side of crossing haven’t budged yet, so you think about crossing anyway and idling on the yellow cross-hatched lines until the traffic clears. You should be sweet if you just stop for a moment, right?
What do you do next?
B – Stay back
A – Drive across
Go back and try again
You’re idling on the crossing when the lights start flashing, and the barrier arms begin to come down, then you hear the freight train coming! You try to drive around the car in front of you but there’s no room. The train’s blaring its horn and screeching as it applies the emergency brakes. It’s still going pretty fast though and you’re not out of the way yet! It clips your rear bumper, sending the car spinning and tossing you around.
Lucky you didn’t go, because the crossing activated again, and the traffic ahead still hadn’t moved. You would have been stuck on the tracks and right in the path of a freight train if you’d been idling on the yellow lines! As you pull up at school you realise you’re 15 minutes late—damn, that means a detention.
At least you got there in one piece though…
Go to end
Want to see what could have happened if you had made different choices?
Go back to beginning
Want to learn more about the penalties for making unsafe decisions around railways and level crossings?
Learn more
You can be fined up to $10,000
if you…
Railways Act 2005 (Section 73, 92); Land Transport (Offences and Penalties) Regulations 1999 (Schedule 1)
You can be fined up to $20,000
if you...
You can be fined up to $1,000
if you...
Trespass on railway tracks, bridges or railway infrastructure.
Interfere with or damage a rail vehicle, container, property or infrastructure.
Walk along or cross tracks (not at a proper crossing.
Fail to comply with a stop or give-way sign at a level crossing.
Enter a level crossing when the red signal is displayed, or the barrier arm is lowered.
Enter a level crossing when the exit is blocked.
Stop on a level crossing or near a level crossing to obscure other drivers’ view.
Pass a vehicle stopped at a level crossing or within 60m of a crossing.
Fail to give way to a rail vehicle at a level crossing while driving.
Walk across a level crossing and risk a collision with a rail vehicle.
Learn more
KiwiRail’s contact email is contactus@kiwirail.co.nz
Use this email to get in touch with our community engagement team.
KiwiRail’s emergency number is 0800 808 400
Use this number for level crossing emergencies and faults, blocked railway lines, damaged overhead wires, faulty alarms or barrier arms.
Go back to beginning
This decision tree map is for reference only.
Note, the box titles in this map (e.g., A0) match the notes section at the bottom of each decision/outcome slide.
The following three slides are templates you can use if you wish to adapt this decision tree or create your own one.
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Go back and try again
Next
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What do you do next?
B –
A –