The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
£4m to avoid bridge crashes
Perth bus firm Stagecoach is spending £4 million to help stop its drivers crashing into bridges.
It is the first bus operator to invest in a national rollout of new bridge alert technology across its fleet.
The system, developed by Greenroad, uses GPS tracking and mapping services to alert the driver to nearby low bridges.
An in-cab alarm sounds if it is determined the bus is heading towards a low bridge.
Data from Network Rail shows that there were 1,714 railway bridge s trikes across the country in the 2019-20 financial year.
Most of these involve heavy goods vehicles but between 40 and 50 a year are related to buses.
Last September a Stagecoach bus carrying more than 70 schoolchildren in Winchester crashed into a railway bridge taking its roof off. The incident led to 15 children requiring treatment.
In the past two years the f i r m’s buses h av e hit bridges in In v e r n e s s , Cambr idge , and Manchester.
The safety system will be installed on Stagecoach’s 8,000 buses in England, Scotland and Wales.
It also uses a traffic-light LED system on the dashboard to gives drivers instant feedback about their manoeuvres.
Stagecoach said this will encourage smoother, safer, more fuel-efficient driving that is more comfortable for passengers.
Chief executive Martin Griffiths said: “Everything we do starts with safety: for our customers, our people, pedestrians and other road users.
“Our country ’s infrastructure includes m a ny r a i l w ay bridges designed in an era before modern transport vehicles went on the road, creating a safety risk.
“We have been working for many months with Greenroad to design this impor tant L ow Bridge Alert enhancement to their proven safety technology and are now implementing it to bolster the extensive measures we already have in place.”
Following a 16 - week software development phase, the technology and associated speakers will be installed on Stagecoach buses across the country by the summer.
As well as the potential for serious injuries, bridge strikes have significant financial costs. On average, a single bridge strike costs more than £6,000.