Vehicles hitting bridges cause £20m of rail delays

Network Rail said 1,532 bridge strikes were reported in Britain in the year to the end of March.

These cost an estimated £20 million in delays, cancellations and repairs, with delays to services due to lines being closed exceeding 100 days.

The roof was ripped off a bus after it struck the Mill Lane bridge in Bradford in 2018

The top ten most frequently-hit bridges in Britain included Doncaster Road (A638), in Ackworth, Wakefield.

The Bradford district has also been affected by a number of similar incidents. 

On May 7 this year, there were dramatic scenes after a truck overturned on the outskirts of Bradford city centre following a crash with a bridge.

The incident disrupted rail services between Bradford Interchange and Leeds for around two hours.

The same bridge in Mill Lane, located near the old signal box at the entrance to Bradford Interchange, was also hit by a lorry back in February 2022, when the vehicle's roof was ripped off by the impact of the collision.

And in June 2018, the roof of a double-decker bus was ripped off after it got stuck under the same bridge.

Part of a lorry's roof was ripped off in 2022 after it struck the bridge in Mill Lane Over the years, Keighley has also seen a number of incidents of vehicles hitting railway bridges, with some of those incidents affected the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. 

in 2017, firefighters clawed their way into an upturned lorry to reach the trapped driver following a dramatic crash in Coney Lane, Keighley.

The fire crew ripped away the front windscreen of the skip wagon so paramedics could climb in and treat the driver.

The scene of the road accident in Coney Lane, Keighley. Picture by West Yorkshire Police

Network Rail identified Stuntney Road in Ely, Cambridgeshire as Britain’s most struck train bridge, with 18 incidents in 2023/24.

Martin Frobisher, Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director, said: “Every time a vehicle hits a bridge it can cause serious safety issues for road and rail users.

“To compound matters, these incidents can delay tens of thousands of passengers while we inspect the bridge and repair any damage – creating cost from public funds which should be used upgrading and improving our network.

“We’ve done a lot of work with transport partners to tackle bridge strikes, and it’s encouraging to see this is paying off with a general downward trend in the number of incidents.

“But with a strike every six hours there’s still much to do, and we urge operators and drivers to properly plan their routes, know the height of their vehicles and be vigilant for road signs showing the height of bridges.

“We will report those who don’t to the Traffic Commissioners, and Network Rail always looks to recover the entire repair and delay costs from the driver and the operator.”