Britain’s 10 most-bashed railway bridges have been revealed.
Network Rail said the bridges were all hit by vehicles at least 10 times in the year to the end of March.
Coddenham Road bridge in Needham Market, Suffolk suffered the most frequent damage, being hit 19 times in just 12 months.
Harlaxton Road bridge in Grantham, came in at third place with 16 strikes.
There were a total of 1,624 bridge strikes across Britain’s rail network in 2020/21 costing more than £5.5 million in delay and cancellation fees, according to Network Rail.
The number of strikes was down 6% compared with the previous year, but there was still an average of more than four
every day.
Network Rail is relaunching its “Wise Up, Size Up” campaign urging lorry drivers to check the height of their vehicles.
Chairman Sir Peter Hendy said: “B
Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: “Bridge strikes cause unnecessary delays, costs and safety issues for road and rail users. To compound matters, they drain public funds which should be used on upgrading and improving our network. In recent years we’ve done a lot of work with partners across the industry to tackle this problem and whilst it’s encouraging to see numbers on the decline, there’s a lot more work to be done.
“With Black Friday and Christmas fast approaching, we urge professional operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and look out for road signs warning of oncoming bridges. Those who don’t are at risk of losing their driver’s and operator’s licences, and Network Rail looks to recover the entire repair and delay costs from the driver’s employer.”
Over the next four weeks, reminders to ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ will feature on posters at motorway service stations across Britain, urging drivers to check the size of their vehicles and their routes before setting off.
Network Rail’s 4E’s initiative – education, engineering, enablement and enforcement – aims to ensure haulage companies and their drivers are provided with the knowledge and tools they need to avoid striking bridges. As part of this ongoing initiative, Network Rail has a team of bridge strike ‘champions’ covering each route across Britain, who raise awareness of the issue by visiting haulage companies and lead in managing bridge strike risk locally.
ridge strikes cause unnecessary delays, costs and safety issues for road and rail users.
“To compound matters, they drain public funds which should be used on upgrading and improving our network.
“In recent years we’ve done a lot of work with partners across the industry to tackle this problem and whilst it’s encouraging to see numbers on the decline, there’s a lot more work to be done.
“With Black Friday and Christmas fast approaching, we urge professional operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and look out for road signs warning of oncoming bridges.
“Those who don’t are at risk of losing their driver’s and operator’s licences, and Network Rail looks to recover the entire repair and delay costs from the driver’s employer.”
– Here are the railway bridges struck the most times in 2020/21:
- 1 Coddenham Road bridge, Needham Market, Suffolk (19 strikes)
- 2 St John’s Street bridge, Lichfield, Staffordshire (18 strikes)
- 3 Harlaxton Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire (16 strikes)
- 4 Stuntney Road bridge, Ely, Cambridgeshire (15 strikes)
- 5 Bromford Road bridge, Dudley, West Midlands (13 strikes)
- 6 Watling Street bridge, Hinckley, Leicestershire (11 strikes)
- 7 Warminster Road bridge, Wilton, Wiltshire (11 strikes)
- 8=. Ipswich Road bridge, Manningtree, Essex (10 strikes)
- 8=. Thames Street bridge, Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey (10 strikes)
- 8=. Lower Downs Road, Wimbledon, London (10 strikes)
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