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Tuesday 31 Aug 2021

Plea for lorry drivers to take better care after bank holiday railway bridge bash continues to cause disruption

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Network Rail has urged lorry drivers and haulage companies to take better care after a Tesco lorry bashed into a railway bridge yesterday (30 August) causing disruption for thousands of passengers and cutting off the only railway line into the south west.  

The lorry caused huge damage to the bridge in Plymouth, forcing the railway line that connects Cornwall and Plymouth with the rest of the country to close and causing bank holiday misery for thousands of travellers.

The Tesco truck was wedged in place for more than 24 hours before being removed today (31 August) at 3pm after structural engineers made the bridge safe. Disruption to train services using the railway tracks above is likely to continue for the rest of the week while repairs now take place. Passengers are advised to check with their train operators or at National Rail Enquiries before setting off.

Every day there are approximately five railway bridges hit by lorries, delaying thousands of passengers across the country. The annual bill for the careless driving comes in at around £20million.

It is these shocking statistics which has led to the latest plea by Network Rail for lorry drivers and haulage companies to take better care, know the height of their vehicles, choose suitable routes, and take notice of the height warning markers on railway bridges.

Mike Gallop, Network Rail’s Western route director, said: “This is happening far too often where thousands of passengers have their plans ruined by careless driving.

“We are urging all lorry drivers and haulage companies to take better care, look out for the height warnings on all of our bridges and take a second to think before taking a risk and causing disruption to so many people’s lives.

“Those delays are compounded by the huge bill which is often picked up by the taxpayer.”

Richard Rowland, GWR’s deputy managing director said: “In the past 24 hours alone, our customers’ journeys have been delayed or cancelled by two separate incidents where lorry drivers simply haven’t taken enough care on the road.

"We will of course do all we can to keep people moving or offer alternative travel options, but these are entirely avoidable circumstances and they shouldn’t be happening so regularly."

Disruption is expected to continue until Friday with a limited train service being able to run over the damaged bridge and a rail replacement service operating between Exeter and Plymouth. Passengers are asked to check before they travel.

Network Rail works with a number of railway industry partners to tackle bridge strikes, including Highways England, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and hauliers.

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.    

For more information on bridge strike prevention, please visit the Network Rail website.