One dead, trains cancelled after ‘tragic’ incident at railway station

One person has died and some heritage rail services, including the Mainlander between Dunedin and Christchurch, have been cancelled after a “tragic” incident involving a train on Sunday night. Senior Sergeant John McCarthy said the person died at the Te Awamutu railway station in Waikato at about 6.20pm. Emergency services rushed to the station but McCarthy said “sadly one person died at the scene”. “This is a tragic incident, and we are providing support to whānau and those who acted immediately to try to help.” Several heritage train services across New Zealand were cancelled on Monday following the incident. However, the Dunedin Railways Ltd tourist train service on the Taieri Gorge line went ahead as usual this morning. A NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi spokesperson said the incident was “entirely separate from our operations here in the South Island”.