Lorry driver arrested after railway bridge collapse on main line into London

A man has been arrested following the collapse of a railway bridge when a lorry smashed into it, leading to ongoing disruption on the busy train route.

A chunk of a railway bridge came crashing down between Nuneaton and Rugby on the West Coast Main Line after a tall lorry collided with the structure on Thursday.

The driver left the scene without reporting the crash, Warwickshire Police said.

A 64-year-old man from Coventry has since been arrested for endangering a railway passenger and failure to stop following a collision.

Lines have been reopened, but disruption is expected until the end of today due to trains operating at a reduced speed.

Trains may still be cancelled or delayed by up to 10 minutes.

Services were forced to divert via Birmingham as the tracks on the UK’s busiest railway line were blocked.

Here is a full list of the affected routes.

• Avanti West Coast – between Glasgow Central / Blackpool North / Preston / Holyhead / Wrexham General / Chester / Liverpool Lime Street / Manchester Piccadilly / Crewe / Wolverhampton and London Euston
• London Northwestern Railway – between Crewe and Rugby / Northampton / London Euston
• Lumo – between Stirling and London Euston

Martin Ball, Network Rail’s infrastructure director, said: ‘This collision has caused significant damage to the bridge and our teams are working hard to understand the extent.

‘There will be ongoing disruption to train services through this area while we assess the bridge.

‘We are working closely with our partners to keep passengers on the move wherever possible but anyone travelling should check on train operator websites or the National Rail Enquiries for the latest information.’

Network Rail issued a scathing reminder to drivers after the incident, saying they should know the height of their vehicles and the loads and plan routes accordingly ‘so that infrastructure isn’t put at risk in this way.’

National Rail said: ‘Please check before you travel as services along this route may start or terminate from either side of Nuneaton or Rugby, or will not run the full journey.

‘Where possible, trains will divert via Birmingham.’

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