you're kidding, but at the South Pole, you have to cross a skiway when walking from station to some of the experiment buildings. (There is a flashing beacon during airplane operations, but still, it's better to look...)
Being more important doesn't change the laws of physics. Trains always have the right of way, then large boats, then aircraft, vehicles with flashy lights come after that.
From what I've seen around me, firefighters tend to be pretty careful drivers even when running with flashy lights, but there was an unfortunate break down here. Condolences to those involved.
There are roughly four airports with railways crossing the runway, although three of them seem out of use.
(I'd guess the train takes priority in normal use, as the schedule is probably less flexible, but given notice of an emergency the train could be asked to stop.)
I’m fairly certain that large boats win over trains. Their stopping distances are measured in kilometers, there no such thing as an emergency brake on water (except throwing your anchor, but that doesn’t help much in most cases either)
Freight trains have stopping distances measured in kilometers too. Even with lots of brakes. Passenger trains can stop shorter, but not that much. Light rail, subways, and some commuter rail is a lot less massive and can stop relatively quickly of course.
But, large boats can turn if the channel allows and trains can't, and boating tradition is clear that vessels restrictred in their maneuverability have priority, so trains win. ;p
L. Ron Hubbard’s ship, the Apollo, was struck by a train while in port. The train derailed/jumped the track, plowed through a concrete barrier and impacted the ship.
Now arguably this was not a right-of-way situation; but I guess you could argue that stationary objects have right-of-way over vehicles.
