More bridge trouble for Network Rail

Network Rail have reported that both the railway along the bridge over Warwick New Road in Leamington Spa and the road itself has to be closed in March after a skip lorry caused £200,000 worth of repairs after hitting the bridge’s central arch.

Hauliers have been warned again about checking the height of their vehicles, with Network Rail Route Asset Manager Marc Vipham saying bridge strikes like this were entirely avoidable and “lorries can’t limbo”. He went onto say, “I can’t stress enough how important it is for drivers to know the height of their vehicle” and “closing a key line for freight traffic has serious impacts on delivering critical supplies to many key workers and institutions.”

There are on average five bridge strikes per day.

Further research carried out by Network Rail showed 43% of lorry drivers admitted to not measuring their vehicle before heading out on the road and 52% admitted to not taking low bridges into account.

In an attempt to combat this, Network Rail launched their ‘Lorries can’t limbo’ campaign last year, aimed at HGV drivers and other who drive high-sided vehicles. The campaign includes online training and guidance in several languages to help drivers and logistics companies plan their routes.

Back in May 2019, Senior Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt advised that bridge strikes had become a serious problem and that both operators and drivers were being reported to the office of the TC by Network Rail advising for regulatory action to be taken.