Nottinghamshire railway bridge among most struck in county hit by lorry again

A Nottinghamshire bridge that has been named amongst the most struck in the East Midlands has once again been hit by a lorry. The collision took place early on Wednesday afternoon (January 15) on the A6007 Stapleford Road, in Trowell.

A picture posted on Facebook by a witness shows the lorry parked next to the bridge following the collision. A "LOW BRIDGE" sign can be seen in the background.

The collision comes as East Midlands Railway (EMR) named the bridge among East Midlands' most hit constructions in February last year. The list was topped by a narrow, four-metre tunnel on the A6075 Debdale Lane in Mansfield, which has been hit by vehicles 40 times in the past decade, averaging one strike every three months.

The only other Nottinghamshire bridge in the region included on the list was the one in Trowell. The statistics were released by EMR in a bid to warn HGV drivers how much care they need to take when using certain routes in the region.

On average, EMR said that each bridge strike costs the UK taxpayer around £13,000 and strikes on the top 10 most-struck bridges in the region last year led to a total of 3,325 minutes - that's 55 hours - of train delays. EMR also said that industry research found that 43 per cent of HGV drivers admit to "not measuring their vehicle before heading out on the road" and 52 per cent "admit to not taking low bridges into account."

A total of 54 railway bridge collisions were reported in 2023 across the East Midlands. As well as not understanding vehicle height, other causes of bridge strikes include drivers "going off the line of route, including under diversion", "operating 'not in service' and taking a shortcut", "insufficient route knowledge returning a vehicle to the depot for maintenance" and "those who normally drive a single-deck vehicle taking a double-deck vehicle on a single-deck route."

Michael Webb, Joint Head of Performance at EMR, previously said: "Unfortunately, bridge strikes are a constant issue that affects our network each year. Drivers and rail customers may experience frustration and delayed journeys, but a bridge strike has the potential to cause a train derailment with catastrophic consequences as well as loss of life or serious injury to the vehicle driver, passengers, and other people nearby.

"Those responsible for causing a bridge strike may be liable for costs associated with the incident, including the inspection and repair of the bridge and the cost of train delays, which can be considerable."