Lorries have hit a Birmingham railway bridge three times in the first week of the new year.
Network Rail is urging lorry drivers to be familiar with the height of their vehicle in order to reduce bridge strikes in future.
The railway bridge concerned is located on Summer Lane in Erdington. A lorry hit the bridge on Friday, 3 January. Another hit it just before 10 am on Tuesday, 7 January.
Engineers inspected it and authorised it to reopen, only for another lorry to strike it at 12.10pm. The bridge reopened for a second time at 1.45pm.
The first lorry to strike the bridge today did not stop. However, the second – pictured top – had to stop, as it was badly damaged.
The impact ripped off Its trailer roof and left it hanging over the road. This resulted in disruption to local residents and to motorists.
All three of these bridge strikes disrupted railway services on the Cross City line between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley.
According to Network Rail’s most recent yearly statistics, there were a total of 65 incidents of road vehicles striking bridges in the West Midlands between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.
These incidents contributed to 8,838 minutes (more than six days) of delays to passengers’ rail journeys.
The three bridges that lorries have struck most often in the West Midlands suffered ten incidents in total. They were:
- Cradley Road in Cradley Heath
- Station Road near Berkswell station, and
- Birmingham Road in Warwick.
Across the country, there were 1,532 bridge strikes in 2023-24.
Using the slogan ‘wise up, size up’, most recently relaunched in 2021, Network Rail is asking lorry drivers to take measures to minimise the risk of driving their vehicles into bridges. The measures include:
- knowing the height of vehicles
- properly planning routes
- never relying on sat-navs or map apps to be up-to-date for bridges and height restrictions.
Network Rail has provided more information and advice for drivers on the Wise Up, Size Up page of its website.
“There is no excuse for driving a lorry into a railway bridge. Our bridges are clearly marked, and lorry drivers should always know the height restrictions of their vehicles. To ignore both and bash a bridge, causing disruption to passengers and road users, is unforgiveable.
“We are looking into what might have caused this recent spate of bridge bashes but I plead with all drivers to know their vehicle restrictions and if in doubt about whether they can fit under a bridge to always use an alternative route.”
Martin Colmey, operations director, Network Rail Central route
Responses
I may be wrong, but believe that the local council´s view of such bridges as the responsibility of Network Rail and extend only a few cms from the bridge edging.
Of course what is required are substantial (and I mean really substantial) 1 metre thick vertical and horizontal strengthened concrete) beams to damage high vehicles without touching the main bridge.
Bottom line, I believe is that such substantial construction would fall onto the local council and they would not like to fund the necessary work on all those bridges in their manor.