• Quick thinking by music teacher Bill Rootes prevented a tragedy on Auckland’s Western train line on Tuesday. 
• Rootes, with the help of an elderly couple, pulled a man off the tracks. 
• Train services were temporarily paused, but resumed at 7pm after emergency services responded. 

Quick thinking by a music teacher prevented a tragedy on Auckland’s Western train line this week. 

Music teacher Bill Rootes told the Herald that on his way back from work on Tuesday afternoon he saw a man lying on the tracks at the Morningside intersection. 

“There was an elderly couple trying to convince him to get up and I don’t think they were able to pick him up,” he said. 

“They were yelling out, ‘Mate why are you on the tracks? What’s going on?’ 

“He was kind of murmuring and said something like, ‘I’m waiting for my train,’ in a very, very drunk kind of way.” 

The bell at the intersection then started to ring and Rootes saw the train coming. 

“At that point, he put his hand up to me and said, ‘Help me up’,” Rootes said. 

“I had to muster up all the strength I’ve got and pick him up. With the help of the elderly couple, they help prop him up and we take him off the tracks.” 

Music teacher Bill Rootes pulled a man to safety from the Morningside train tracks shortly before the train arrived at the platform. Photo / Michael Craig 

He said the train was around 200 metres away from the man before they pulled him off the track. 

Rootes got on the incoming train and called the police. 

“I was a bit shook. It usually feels like such a long journey [to Henderson] and I was a bit numb to it. Next thing I know, I was in Henderson,” he said. 

“As long as that guy is good. I don’t know what they would have done with him.” 

An Auckland Transport spokesperson told the Herald that train services on Auckland’s Western Line were temporarily paused on Tuesday about 6.45pm after a trespasser was spotted close to the tracks near Morningside Station. 

“Emergency services responded promptly to the incident and train services resumed running at about 7pm. Because the disruption to services was short there were no flow-on effects for other train lines. 

“Auckland Transport is reminding people to take extreme care at level crossings and to phone emergency services on 111 if they see any suspicious or unusual behaviour near railway tracks or trains.” 

Two previous accidents have occurred at the Morningside train crossing. 

In January 2015, Tejas Patel, 24, was killed after getting off a passenger train at the station, while a woman’s car was struck by a train in October 2016. 

David Williams is an Auckland-based multimedia journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.