Bus hits low bridge in York – ripping off its roof
The roof of a bus has been ripped off after it collided with a low bridge in York.
The accident happened on this afternoon (Thursday, 6 February) on Leeman Road.
Thankfully there are no reports of any casualties at this stage.
The bus hit a railway bridge going over Leeman Road, close to its junction with Kingsland Terrace. It was a no 29 Reliance Bus service which runs from York to Linton on Ouse.
The roof of the bus was torn right off and left in the road, amid the broken glass from the shattered windows.
However the rail bridge appears undamaged – an LNER train went across it as our photographer Richard McDougall was at the scene.
Police tweeted:
-
Officers are currently dealing with an incident at the railway bridge on Leeman Road where there has been an RTC between a bus and the bridge.
Thankfully no one has been hurt, but please avoid the area while we deal with the incident.
Bus company investigating
A spokesperson for Reliance buses said: “We are aware of an incident involving one of our vehicles at Salisbury Terrace Rail Bridge.
“Our specialist staff are responding to the incident and we are working hard to establish the circumstances surrounding it.
“Until those investigations are concluded with we do not wish to make any further comment.”
A spokeswoman for Network Rail said: “There was a small amount of disruption to train service, however these have now resumed as normal.”
Reader comment – Peter J Fraser
If the road the incident happened on is part of the route then it’s Reliance at fault for sending a 14ft 6in double decker on a single decker route. The 10ft 9in clearance on the bridge leaves 9in clearance for a single decker. York is out of my area as I’m North West but I’ve seen one too many incidents like this where the operator is at fault and have been issued warnings for putting doubles on a single decker route. The running boards for all routes specify the vehicle type to be allocated to the route but the depot foreman is in charge of allocation. For example the driver would collect the running board from the office when they sign on duty, then go to the foreman with the board who would allocate the vehicle (223) in this incident. The foreman then marks the bus (223) as being on duty 400, the duty number allocated on the running board. This means that if this is the case Reliance is at fault and should be issued a warning from the local transport authority.