The Tawa Tennis Club is next to the North Island Main Trunk Railway and is part of the suburban rail network of Wellington. <\/p>\n
A DL class weighs about 108 tonnes. Photo \/ File <\/p>\n
\u201cI have to tell you my heart was in my mouth,\u201d Bewick said. <\/p>\n
Bewick was on his usual walk along the Ara Tawa trail, when he stopped to watch the train drive by. <\/p>\n
After a tennis ball flew over the fence and onto the rail, a man who appeared to be in his 20s ran over from the club.<\/p>\n
The Tawa Tennis Club is near the suburban rail network of Wellington, New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Using his tennis racket to grab the ball, the man ducked out of the train\u2019s way just in time before jogging back to the tennis court area \u201cas though nothing had happened\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just absolute idiocy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bewick questioned the worth of a tennis ball over someone\u2019s life. <\/p>\n
Tennis balls can be bought for as low as 80c each from Bunnings. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis young man put his own life at significant risk.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bewick has seen the odd tennis ball on the track, but had never seen someone run in front of a train to get them. <\/p>\n
He said he had contacted Tawa Tennis Club, telling them to remind players not to go on rail lines, especially when trains were coming. <\/p>\n
TrackSAFE foundation manager Megan Drayton said a fully-laden freight train can take up to a kilometre to stop once they\u2019d hit the emergency brakes. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s something on the tracks in front of them … there\u2019s not very much they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tennis court was in the Wellington suburb of Tawa. Photo \/ File<\/p>\n
Drayton hoped the Tawa Tennis Club would advise members not to retrieve balls from the railway. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tennis ball, right? What are they worth? Our advice to them would be if your tennis balls go anywhere onto the rail corridor then goodbye to that tennis ball because it is just too unsafe to go and retrieve them.\u201d <\/p>\n
Drayton advised that everyone must stay at least 5m away from either side of a track, as there is risk of being hit by a side a of train, or being sucked under into its vacuum. <\/p>\n
She said the incident was \u201chorrifying\u201d for both the person close to being hit, and the driver of the train. <\/p>\n
KiwiRail warned even close calls could take a huge toll on train drivers. <\/p>\n
\u201cKiwiRail reminds the public that the rail corridor is an unforgiving environment and the consequences of a collision can be catastrophic.\u201d <\/p>\n
It said people should only ever cross the tracks at official level crossings, where they should cross with care, obey the warning signs and look carefully in both directions for trains.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrains can appear at any time whether they are expected or not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey travel faster than they appear to and take much longer to stop than people realise.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand had nine rail fatalities last year, most of which were not at level crossings and were unauthorised members of the public, according to NZTA rail safety statistics. <\/p>\n