Grantham railway bridge named among top 10 most bashed nationwide
A town centre railway bridge has been named among the country's most bashed.
According to Network Rail, Harlaxton Road bridge in Grantham was the third most struck railway bridge nationwide over the last year.
With 16 strikes in just 12 months, the Grarailway bridge named among top 10 most bashed nationwidetham bridge was only behind two others, Coddenham Road bridge, Needham Market, Suffolk, struck 19 times, and St John’s Street bridge, Lichfield, Staffordshire, with 18 strikes.
The bridge was struck only last month, when a lorry collided with it.
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.
The infrastructure company’s chairman Sir Peter Hendy 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.”