Grantham railway bridge among most bashed in Britain

The railway bridge on Harlaxton Road in Grantham was the third most struck in Britain in 2021/22, according to new data released by Network Rail.

More than 1,800 bridges were hit in 2021/22, with the most bashed being Stonea Road bridge on the B1098 in Cambridgeshire which was struck 33 times by the year ending March 2022. This amounted to £10,526 in unnecessary train delay and cancellation costs.

Lower Downs Road in Wimbledon was second on the list with 18 strikes, with Harlaxton Road Bridge close behind in third after being hit 17 times.

Most struck railway bridges in Britain 2021/22:

1. Stonea Road, Stonea, Cambridgeshire 33 strikes
2. Lower Down’s Road, Wimbledon, London 18 strikes
3. Harlaxton Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire 17 strikes
4. Abbey Farm, Thetford, Norfolk 15 strikes
5. Stuntney Road, Ely, Cambridgeshire 12 strikes
6. Harefield Road, Brakespeare Road South, West Ruislip, London 12 strikes
7. Station Road B4105, Berkswell, Solihull 12 strikes
8. Station Road, Langley, Berkshire12 strikes
9. St John’s Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire 11 strikes
10. Coddenham Road, Needham Market, Suffolk 10 strikes

The railway bridge on Harlaxton Road in Grantham was the third most struck in Britain in 2021/22. | Photo: Network Rail

The bridge strikes in Britain cost Network Rail almost £12 million in delay and cancellation fees in 2021/22.

Network Rail has released a new animation urging lorry drivers to ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ by knowing the height of their vehicles and choosing suitable routes before they head out on journeys.

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.

While incidents have reduced in recent years, numbers have steadily started to creep up again – coinciding with an estimated increase in traffic volume on Britain’s roads.

Overall, provisional estimates show motor vehicles travelled 318.6 billion vehicle miles in Great Britain from April 2021 to March 2022 – a 29.7% increase compared to the year ending March 2021. Lorry traffic, in particular, increased by 10.1% to 17.8 billion vehicle miles.

This is according to provisional road traffic estimates for Great Britain from the Department for Transport (April 2021-March 2022).

Bridge strikes reported across the railway network in the last five financial years:

• Year 2017/18 – 2,039 strikes
• Year 2018/19 – 1,926 strikes
• Year 2019/20 – 1,720 strikes
• Year 2020/21 – 1,624 strikes
• Year 2021/22 – 1,833 strikes

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