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New train barrier arms, shorter and made in America, were being installed at Mt Eden’s George St crossing today and apparently will appear in other places.
The arms were not operating for a while while Ontrack installed them.
The new barrier arms get a test run- first train through for one of the arms
Now barrier arms may be..well barrier arms to most motorists but to Ontrack staff involved, the new ones looked quite different under the bonnet.
And talk about boys with their new toys….
Inside there were lots of “surprises”
“Hey sweetheart, exciting news, I’m putting in new barrier arms? No, seriously it is exciting!”
Train passengers seemed to wonder what was going on!
4 Comments
Noticed there was stuff going on there yesterday when the train had to almost stop due to cars crossing, also it was in sideswipe in the herald today.
Train-crossing folly
Natalie Snowden writes: “Here’s a ‘social experiment’ I witnessed yesterday morning. One of the train barrier arms on Charles St, Kingsland was out of action (and clearly signposted as such). As I queued for three trains to pass - alerted by flashing lights, warning bells and the other barrier arm being down - I counted seven vehicles and two pedestrians blithely jumping the queue and going around the barrier to cross. People obviously value the 10 minutes they sit in traffic more highly than their safety. Either that or it is natural selection …”
Did they say what’s different about these arms, they look standard to me? We’ve been sourcing our barriers, lights and bells from the states for decades, including these shorter arms, although they are generally fitted to small country crossings.
Pretty sure the same arms have been in operation at Sarawia St for some months. I had the distinct feeling they had shrunk.
Looking at the various crossings up and down the Western Line yesterday, I did note the same style of short arms fitted to most level crossings, including my own local Metcalfe Rd crossing, and that was last upgraded in 2008.