Disruption to train services between Shotton and Wrexham due to lorry hitting bridge

There’s disruption to train services between Shotton and Wrexham this afternoon after a skip lorry hit the rail bridge in Cefn-Y-Bedd.

A spokesperson for Network Rail has said “A skip lorry has hit the bridge so trains currently are not running out of Wrexham until it has been inspected.

“Our engineers are expected on site in the next 15 minutes (12.20pm) or so to carry out the inspection and see if any damage has been caused.”

The Arriva Trains Website says: “Due to a road vehicle colliding with a bridge between Shotton High Level and Wrexham General all lines are closed. Train services through these stations may be subject to disruption on all routes. Disruption is expected until 13:00 27/10.”

Additional Information
– 1230 Wrexham Ctl – Bidston and 1332 Bidston – Wrexham are replaced by road transport supplied by Pat’s Coaches.
– Network Rail estimate staff on site 12.20.

Network Rail launched new bridge strike awareness campaign yesterday.

On average, a bridge strike costs taxpayers £13,500 and causes two hours of delays to train services according to new figures from Network Rail.

Hundreds of thousands of rail passengers will suffer hours of delays and cancellations this month as ‘bridge-strikes’ – when a lorry that’s too big hits a low bridge – reach their peak, with new figures revealing October/November see around 10 incidents reported every day.

The railway suffers almost 2,000 bridge strikes every year costing the taxpayer some £23m in damages and delays.

The end of this month (October) sees a peak in the number of strikes, rising to almost 10 per day.

Research suggests this could be due to the hour change and increased deliveries ahead of Christmas.

Figures also show most bridge strikes happen between 10am and 11am, but remain high all day until around 6pm in the evening and can cause hours of travel chaos.

Research has found:

– 43 per cent of lorry drivers admit to not knowing the size of their vehicle
– 52 per cent of drivers admit to not taking low bridges into account when planning their journeys
– five bridge strikes happen across the country everyday – with a peak of 10/day in October
on average, each bridge strike costs £13,500 and causes two hours of delays to train services.

Read more here