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Monday 9 Nov 2020

Drivers urged to take more care as rail bridges bashed almost four times a week across SW London, Wiltshire and Somerset

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

| Southern

Bridges in SW London, Wiltshire and Somerset are being hit by high vehicles almost four times a week as Network Rail reminds drivers to know the height of their vehicle before they set off or face tougher penalties.

Across Network Rail Wessex which covers most of the South of England on lines from London Waterloo, there are four bridges that are among the 20 most struck low rail bridges in England and were bashed 203 times between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.

In fact, the route had four “bridge bashes” in just one day last month (20 October) at Hampton Court station, Horsley station in Surrey and two at Brockwood station in Hampshire delaying over 80 trains, and a school bus had its roof ripped off on 10 September, near Winchester.

The bridge on Lower Down Road in Raynes Park, Wimbledon which has a height of 7 feet 9 inches (2.3 metres) has the unenviable record of being the eleventh most struck bridge in England and was hit the most times in 2019/20 in Wessex with 11 strikes.

This is followed by the bridge on Warminster Road in Wilton, Wiltshire which was the twelfth most hit bridge with 10 strikes and nine times for the bridges on St John’s Road in Isleworth, Middlesex and Jews Lane in Twerton, Somerset which were the seventeenth and eighteenth most bashed bridges in the country respectively.

In total, 85 bridges have been struck at least once over the past year, delaying passengers by over 172 hours – equivalent to just over a week. While that is a decrease of 239 in the previous year it is still a problem that costs the railway hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Nationally, almost six out of ten (59%) of the incidents are caused by HGV drivers, and today Network Rail is reminding drivers they could face tougher penalties including removing a person’s public service vehicle (PSV) licence.

Mark Killick, Network Rail Wessex route director said: “There is no excuse to not know the height of your vehicle before starting your journey.

“As well as putting lives in danger on both road and rail and causing lengthy delays for passengers and road users, drivers who chance it at bridges are at risk of leaving their employers with a hefty bill for repairs and train delay costs, along with a strong threat to their own operator licence.”

Hideo Takano, Senior Structures Advisor at Highways England said: “Although bridge strikes are comparatively low for our roads, as part of the collective drive to reduce bridge strikes happening we work with other transport authorities as part of the Bridge Strike Prevention Group and welcome Network Rail’s new campaign. 

“Bridges strikes can cause hours of disruption around two-thirds of bridge strikes on our roads are caused by vehicles carrying a load. So, to reduce the risk of this happening we urge all drivers to follow these simple steps; know your height, plan your route and secure your load.”

Nationally, almost six out of ten (59%) of the incidents are caused by HGV drivers, and today Network Rail is reminding drivers they could face tougher penalties including removing a person’s public service vehicle (PSV) licence.

To try and combat the number of bridge strikes, adverts are being placed at motorway service station petrol pumps across the country reminding drivers to “Wise Up, Size Up” as “Lorries Can’t Limbo” and drivers should know their vehicle height before they start their journey and to check their route for low bridges.