Most-bashed rail bridges revealed - including two from Black Country and Staffordshire

Britain’s 10 most-bashed railway bridges have been revealed.

Network Rail said the bridges were all hit by vehicles at least 10 times in the year to the end of March.

Coddenham Road bridge in Needham Market, Suffolk suffered the most frequent damage, being hit 19 times in just 12 months.

Other entries in the top 10 include St John’s Street bridge in Lichfield, Staffordshire; Harlaxton Road bridge in Grantham, Lincolnshire; and Lower Downs Road bridge in Wimbledon, south London.

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.”

– Here are the railway bridges struck the most times in 2020/21:

1. Coddenham Road bridge, Needham Market, Suffolk (19 strikes)

2. St John’s Street bridge, Lichfield, Staffordshire (18 strikes)

3. Harlaxton Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire (16 strikes)

4. Stuntney Road bridge, Ely, Cambridgeshire (15 strikes)

5. Bromford Road bridge, Dudley, West Midlands (13 strikes)

6. Watling Street bridge, Hinckley, Leicestershire (11 strikes)

7. Warminster Road bridge, Wilton, Wiltshire (11 strikes)

8=. Ipswich Road bridge, Manningtree, Essex (10 strikes)

8=. Thames Street bridge, Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey (10 strikes)

8=. Lower Downs Road, Wimbledon, London (10 strikes)