Bridge strikes are a significant risk to railway safety
A bridge strike occurs when a motor vehicle crashes into a bridge at a location where the railway passes over a road or the road crosses the railway.
Bridge strike incidents can cause death or serious injury to road and rail users and are financially costly to the vehicle owner and the railway.
After an incident the bridge needs to be checked to make sure it’s safe and debris needs to be cleared. This can cause significant delays to both road and rail users as well as disruption to the affected community.
Wise up size up: our bridge strikes campaign
Reporting a bridge strike
If a bridge strike occurs it should be immediately reported to us using the telephone number on the identification plate fixed to the bridge. If no plate is provided the strike should be reported to the Police by telephoning 999.
The number of bridge strikes at our bridges since 2000 (between 1 April and 31 March) are shown in the table below.
| Year | Underline bridges | Overline bridges |
|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | 1613 | 111 |
| 2001/02 | 1678 | 100 |
| 2002/03 | 1914 | 122 |
| 2003/04 | 1898 | 142 |
| 2004/05 | 2020 | 152 |
| 2005/06 | 1890 | 146 |
| 2006/07 | 2020 | 126 |
| 2007/08 | 2161 | 143 |
| 2008/09 | 1736 | 115 |
| 2009/10 | 1439 | 113 |
| 2010/11 | 1593 | 98 |
| 2011/12 | 1541 | 80 |
| 2012/13 | 1544 | 101 |
| 2013/14 | 1708 | 101 |
| 2014/15 | 1670 | 140 |
| 2015/16 | 1606 | 136 |
| 2016/17 | 1665 | 109 |
| 2017/18 | 1801 | 132 |
Some bridges over roads were struck repeatedly in 2017/18, with 32 strikes being reported at bridgeBGK/1568: Stuntley Road (A142) in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
The top 10 assets with greatest number of reported bridge strikes in the year ending 31 March 2018 were as follows:
Repeated bridge strikes 2017/18
| # | Route | Bridge ID | Location | OS Grid reference | Postcode | Bridge strikes in 2016/17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anglia | BGK/1568 | A142 Stuntney Road, Ely, Cambridgeshire | TL 543 794 | CB7 4DY | 32 |
| 2 | Anglia | EMP/1816 | B1098 Stonea Road, Stonea, Cambridgeshire | TL 459 933 | PE15 0DX | 23 |
| 3 | LNW | WNS/3 | A5 Watling Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire | SP 406 926 | LE10 0FY | 22 |
| 4 | LNW | BJW3/90 | A51 Upper St John Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire | SK 118 090 | WS13 6HU | 19 |
| 5 | LNE | ECM1/243 | A607 Harlaxton Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire | SK 912 357 | NG31 7AD | 17 |
| 6 | Scotland | AYR3/161/059 | A737 Beith Road, Dalry, North Ayrshire | NS 299 497 | KA24 4HZ | 13 |
| 6 | Wessex | BML1/2/29 | Lower Downs Road, Wimbledon, London | TQ 239 696 | SW20 8QG | 13 |
| 6 | Anglia | ETN/1601 | Abbey Farm, Thetford, Norfolk | TL 866 837 | IP24 1AU | 13 |
| 9 | Wessex | BAE2/E4/248 | A36 Warminster Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire | SU099 317 | SP2 0AJ | 12 |
| 10 | South East | XTD/92 | B207 Trundleys Road, Deptford, London | TQ 360 780 | SE8 5JL | 11 |
| 10 | Anglia | DWW2/227 | A102, Kennworthy Road, Homerton, London | TQ 362 849 | E9 5RB | 11 |
| 10 | LNE | DBP1/15 | B5008 Repton Road, Willington, Derbyshire | SK 294 285 | DE65 6BX | 11 |
Two or more bridge strikes were reported at 358 bridges carrying the railway over roads and roads over the railway in the year ending 31 March 2018.
Our Route bridge strike champions take the lead in managing bridge strike risk locally and can be contacted as follows:
Bridge strike contacts
| Name | Route | |
|---|---|---|
| Navraj Kallah | Anglia | Navraj.Kallah@networkrail.co.uk |
| Simon Woodfield | London North Eastern and East Midlands (LNE & EM) | Simon.WOODFIELD@networkrail.co.uk |
| Rob Stephens | London North Western (LNW) | Rob.Stephens@networkrail.co.uk |
| Darach Urquhart | Scotland | Darach.urquhart@networkrail.co.uk |
| Stephen Delderfield | South East | civilsenquiriesSussex@networkrail.co.uk |
| Daniel Brookfield | Wales | Daniel.Brookfield@networkrail.co.uk |
| Michael Mahoney | Wessex | Michael.Mahoney@networkrail.co.uk |
| Kevin Laidlaw | Western | westernbridgestrikes@networkrail.co.uk |
| Mark Wheel | National Lead | Mark.Wheel@networkrail.co.uk |