Woman's close call at New Zealand rail crossing

An absent-minded New Zealand woman has come close to being struck by a train when she looked the wrong way when walking across the tracks.

Security camera footage showed her walking over the tracks at the Mount Eden crossing in the city of Auckland yesterday, reports the New Zealand Herald.

Footage begins with several pedestrians crossing the track before warning bells and lights flash to signal an approaching train.

The woman, wearing a purple hoodie, crosses, looking to her right but not to her left, the direction from which the train is travelling.

With a couple of steps to go before reaching the safety of the far side, she sees the train and hurries on as it whizzes past her, missing her by just centimetres.

Auckland Transport rail services manager Craig Inger said the incident highlighted the importance of taking care at crossings.

"It's really important that you check both directions before crossing, a train can come from either direction," he said.

He added the network's electric trains are much quieter than its former diesel trains.

Rail safety organisation TrackSAFE said more than 100 people have died in New Zealand in the past 10 years on railway tracks, tunnels and bridges.