The risk of bridge strikes
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- The risk of bridge strikes
Bridge strikes continue to be 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.
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.
Reported bridge strikes
| 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 |
Some bridges over roads were struck repeatedly in 2015/16, with 26 strikes being reported at bridge XTD/134: St Mildreds Road (A205) in Hither Green, London.
The top 10 assets with greatest number of reported bridge strikes in the year ending 31 March 2016 were as follows:
Repeated bridge strikes
| # | Route | Bridge ID | Location | OS Grid reference | Post code | Bridge strikes in 2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South East | XTD/134 | A205 St Mildreds Road, Hither Green, London | TQ 394 737 | SE12 0RL | 26 |
| 2 | South East | BTH1/1205 | A205 Thurlow Park Road, Tulse Hill, London | TQ 318 730 | SE21 8JB | 22 |
| 3 | Wessex | BML1/2/29 | Lower Downs Road, Wimbledon, London | TQ 239 696 | SW20 8QG | 16 |
| 4 | LNE & EM | ECM1/246 | A25 Barrowby Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire | SK 909 362 | NG31 6PE | 14 |
| 5 | LNW | TTA1/106 | A624 Hayfield Road, Chinley, Derbyshire | SK 052 824 | SK23 6DZ | 13 |
| =6 | LNE & EM | MVN2/230 | A636 Denby Dale Road, Wakefield, West Yorkshire | SE 328 193 | WF2 7TG | 12 |
| =6 | Anglia | BGK/1568 | A142 Stuntney Road, Ely, Cambridgeshire | TL 543 794 | CB7 4DY | 12 |
| =8 | LNW | WNS/3 | A5 Watling Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire | SP 406 926 | LE10 0FY | 11 |
| =8 | LNW | BJW3/90 | A51 Upper St John Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire | SK 118 090 | WS13 6HU | 11 |
| =10 | Western | SWB/93 30 | A429 Kingway, Hullavington, Wiltshire | ST 913 825 | SN16 0HW | 10 |
| =10 | LNE & EM | DBP1/15 | B5008 Repton Road, Willington, Derbyshire | SK 293 284 | DE65 6BP | 10 |
Two or more bridge strikes were reported at 317 bridges carrying the railway over roads and roads over the railway in the year ending 31 March 2016.
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Hamilton | Anglia | civilsenquiryAnglia@networkrail.co.uk |
| David Dickinson/Jonathan McCann | London North Eastern and East Midlands (LNE & EM) | LNE_EMstructuressupport@networkrail.co.uk |
| Mark Wheel | London North Western (LNW) | mark.wheel@networkrail.co.uk |
| Darach Urquhart | Scotland | Darach.urquhart@networkrail.co.uk |
| Stephen Delderfield | South East | civilsenquiriesSussex@networkrail.co.uk |
| Mark Peters | Wales | Walesroutestructures@networkrail.co.uk |
| Gavin Baecke | Wessex | bridgestrikeWessex@networkrail.co.uk |
| Kevin Laidlaw | Western | westernbridgestrikes@networkrail.co.uk |