It was a long trip home for lunch for some Wanganui motorists yesterday when a fault at three different railway crossings around the city caused the barrier arms to come down for 45 minutes.
An electrical fault in the signal control system activated the arms, lights and bells at the crossings just before midday, KiwiRail communications adviser Becs Saxton said.
The crossings affected were on College St, Purnell St and Guyton St, and the trains were slowed down to 10km/h as a precaution.
"This is a key safety feature of level crossing alarm systems to 'fail to safe' and activate the automatic alarms in the event of a fault," Ms Saxton said.
The arms were down for about 45 minutes while KiwiRail staff completed repairs.
While queues of cars began to build up, some drivers drove around the barrier arms.
KiwiRail said motorists should behave at the crossings as they would at a normal intersection.
The same fault occurred in January at the crossing on Somme Parade, with one driver getting out of his car to hold a barrier arm up while other vehicles drove through. It also happened in October last year.