S N Barnes
Member
- Joined
- 20 Jan 2011
- Messages
- 16
2 threads I've picked up where there seems to be silence or a lack of reports & objective analysis on the problems and possible solutions.
Hitting a bridge with a 'decker is a high scoring risk, as, in service, there will be people on the upper deck & high risk of injury/death as well as the issue of hitting the bridge
1 - most recent - First Glasgow 'decker hits Kilbowie Road bridge in Clydebank (6/11/21) - no sign of local news reports. In hiatus of driver shortages & COP26 diversions it seems that 'decker got driven on route normally used by a single deck (?)
A warning buzzer should have sounded, but this bridge often passed by 'deckers not turning (left) to go under it, & the warning system for this bridge had been switched off
Not sure if it even triggered a TSR until bridge was checked by NR
2 - 14'6" .... or 4.3(?) or 4.4(?) m signs/actual confusion? in Romsey. 14'6" 'deckers getting regular scrapes, with (at least 2 Blue Star) bus routes that use them registered to pass under bridge. Drivers appear to have been told to keep quiet about the damage, and one was sacked for whistleblowing.
It does seem a bit 'close' driving under a 14'6" bridge with 14'6" buses, especially when the air suspension settings can vary, with several models having a 'ferry lift' setting (to increase the ground clearance for using a linkspan) as well as the 'kneel' to level the front platform with a footway kerb. From Streetview the bridge also has wiring for lights fixed underneath, a 'Railtrack' bridge information plate, and traffic lights with a 90° turn on the routes
With bus route registrations being notified to nominated bodies, and others with interests also checking their local notifications from the Traffic Area Offices (fortnightly N&P - Notices & Proceedings) I would have thought that Network Rail would be checking these and getting 'undertakings' linked to those registrations that put a bus route to pass under a low bridge(s), that no buses over a specified height should operate that service, or isn't this happening?
Fortunately most bus-bridge crashes are not on service routes, as diversions are checked, and buses rarely operate with ferry lift raised or a gross suspension levelling malfunction, although there are ironic tales of rail replacement services, often with poorly briefed drivers, working in areas a long way from their base taking the wrong route. Is there anyone tracking this independently at present? Example 2 suggests that where no spectacle of a severed roof in the road disrupts traffic flow, there will be under-reporting - what thoughts
DM open
Hitting a bridge with a 'decker is a high scoring risk, as, in service, there will be people on the upper deck & high risk of injury/death as well as the issue of hitting the bridge
1 - most recent - First Glasgow 'decker hits Kilbowie Road bridge in Clydebank (6/11/21) - no sign of local news reports. In hiatus of driver shortages & COP26 diversions it seems that 'decker got driven on route normally used by a single deck (?)
A warning buzzer should have sounded, but this bridge often passed by 'deckers not turning (left) to go under it, & the warning system for this bridge had been switched off
Not sure if it even triggered a TSR until bridge was checked by NR
2 - 14'6" .... or 4.3(?) or 4.4(?) m signs/actual confusion? in Romsey. 14'6" 'deckers getting regular scrapes, with (at least 2 Blue Star) bus routes that use them registered to pass under bridge. Drivers appear to have been told to keep quiet about the damage, and one was sacked for whistleblowing.
It does seem a bit 'close' driving under a 14'6" bridge with 14'6" buses, especially when the air suspension settings can vary, with several models having a 'ferry lift' setting (to increase the ground clearance for using a linkspan) as well as the 'kneel' to level the front platform with a footway kerb. From Streetview the bridge also has wiring for lights fixed underneath, a 'Railtrack' bridge information plate, and traffic lights with a 90° turn on the routes
With bus route registrations being notified to nominated bodies, and others with interests also checking their local notifications from the Traffic Area Offices (fortnightly N&P - Notices & Proceedings) I would have thought that Network Rail would be checking these and getting 'undertakings' linked to those registrations that put a bus route to pass under a low bridge(s), that no buses over a specified height should operate that service, or isn't this happening?
Fortunately most bus-bridge crashes are not on service routes, as diversions are checked, and buses rarely operate with ferry lift raised or a gross suspension levelling malfunction, although there are ironic tales of rail replacement services, often with poorly briefed drivers, working in areas a long way from their base taking the wrong route. Is there anyone tracking this independently at present? Example 2 suggests that where no spectacle of a severed roof in the road disrupts traffic flow, there will be under-reporting - what thoughts
DM open