Crash-prone railway bridge to get steel protection to cut train delays

A railway bridge in south London that has been repeatedly struck by lorries is to receive a huge steel protection beam to reduce train delays. The railway bridge passes over the Brighton Road outside Coulsdon South station and has restricted height access – fine for most vehicles, but can be too low for large lorries.

 

Although most hits are minor, they usually need to close the railway line for a while to inspect the bridge for damage. As it carries the fast lines for express trains to Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath, and Brighton, that’s a lot of people whose trips are delayed.

 

In 2022, a lorry even managed to get stuck under the bridge, which took half a day to get removed. The motorist was later banned from driving a lorry for six months.

 

To reduce delays on the railway, Network Rail plans to install steel protection beams on either side of the bridge.

 

Officially called a collision protection beam (CPB), the protection will consist of two large steel tubes filled with impact-absorbing grout, bolted onto supports on either side of the bridge. The beams are then painted with Luminous Yellow (RAL 1026) chevrons to warn motorists that they are approaching a bridge.

 

That won’t stop inattentive motorists from driving into the steel beam, but as it will absorb the impact, the railway bridge behind it shouldn’t be affected, and they won’t need to close it as often to inspect it for damage.

 

So fewer delays for railway passengers, if not for the motorists held up by a crumpled lorry on the road.

 

Work to install the steel beams is scheduled to start in September and is expected to be completed by the end of October. For people using the neighbouring Coulsden South station, Network Rail is warning that it will need to use the car park for its construction site, so there will be fewer parking spaces.

 

There will also be some occasional local road closures, but the railway station itself is not expected to need to close.

 

And once the beams are installed, neither will the railway line.