Various 'open-top bus conversion' incidents, usually involving railway bridges

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Yet another one:

From BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News (28/01/2013):

Bus has roof torn off in Hampshire railway bridge crash

The roof of a double-decker bus was ripped off when the bus got stuck under a railway bridge in Hampshire. The out-of-service bus hit the railway bridge in Station Road in Portchester at about 09:40 GMT. Fire crews said the bus and its roof were left on opposite sides of the bridge. The bus driver, a 45-year-old man, was treated at the scene for shock.



Another bus run by operator First Group was involved in a similar crash at the same spot almost five months ago.

Police and about 15 firefighters were called to the scene.

A crane is to be used to remove the top of the bus from the bridge, where it had become stuck.

'Severe shock'

Paul Coates, Fareham station manager, said: "The top of the double-decker bus stayed there and the rest of it went through. We closed the road and made the scene safe, and gave first aid to the driver until the ambulance arrived. We gave him oxygen because he was quite in shock when we arrived."

A spokeswoman for Hampshire Constabulary said: "Nobody was on the bus but the driver - it was out of service at the time. The driver was in severe shock and was treated by ambulance crews at the scene."



Experts from Network Rail were called to assess the scene and the road was shut for about three hours.

Operator First Group said it was investigating the incident.

A spokeswoman said: "We are as concerned by this incident as we suspect other local people will be. The exact cause of it is being investigated and the appropriate action will be taken as a result. It is too early to speculate as to what the outcome of the investigation will be. In relation to the previous incident, the cause of that was determined to be human error and the appropriate action was taken as a result."

A Network Rail spokesperson said: "When road vehicles strike railway bridges, it can cause damage, delay and cost to the railway. Thankfully, owing to sturdy engineering by the Victorians, rarely is the damage significant but we have to send an engineer to site to inspect and often we have to delay or even stop trains until this has been done."

[LiskeardRich]

This one BNM is an exact copy of one a few months back, I initially thought you'd posted an old article!

[JayMac]

Same make of bus as last time as well - Volvo Olympian - although slightly different body style.

News item from the Daily Mail about previous 'conversion' at the same location: http://tinyurl.com/cnehg8v

[LiskeardRich]

Same make of bus as last time as well - Volvo Olympian - although slightly different body style.

News item from the Daily Mail about previous 'conversion' at the same location: http://tinyurl.com/cnehg8v

Whats the difference in body style other than one has a clean opentop conversion and the other has a front upright!

[LiskeardRich]

I've just done some Googling and Olympians seem to be the ones that most commonly strike bridges.

[JayMac]

Both incidents involved Volvo Olympians with Northern Counties Palatine bodies, although the first one had dual doors. Both buses are from the same First in Hampshire & Dorset depot - Hoeford.

[Network SouthEast]

Both incidents involved Volvo Olympians with Northern Counties Palatine bodies, although the first one had dual doors. Both buses are from the same First in Hampshire & Dorset depot - Hilsea.

Taking this thread off topic - BUT - I didn't think Hilsea depot had any double deckers, they are more likely to be from Hoeford depot.

[JayMac]

Apologies for the depot error. I was reading the fleet lists and got confused. I edited my post just before Network SouthEast replied.

The two roofless Olympians do indeed belong to Hoeford depot near Fareham.

[anthony215]

Well if its repaired first cymru need a new open topper to replace Bristol VR MOD571P which is now in preservation and so wont be operating the Swansea open top bus service this summer.

[LiskeardRich]

Well if its repaired first cymru need a new open topper to replace Bristol VR MOD571P which is now in preservation and so wont be operating the Swansea open top bus service this summer.

Not much repair needed for that, just maybe a screen at the front and a rail all round from other conversions!

[TonyK]

Bus has roof torn off in Hampshire railway bridge crash


A spokeswoman said: "... The exact cause of it is being investigated "

I reckon the driver tried to get under a bridge that was too low...



Edited to fix quote. bignosemac

[paul7575]

Maybe they've all been watching Roger Moore in 'Live and Let Die'?   

Paul

[GBM]

When the pressure is on a driver, mistakes happen.  They are only human,
That said, they have an enormous responsibility at all times when in the cab.
Driving single and double deckers all day long, different routes, different busses, daily varied shifts.
Sudden changes of routes & diversions all add up to a very demanding job.
I can see why this happens.
The hours drivers spend in the cab per week (39+), incidents are bound to happen.
Doesn't excuse it, as the basic fault is always "lack of attention"

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for posting, GBM - and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum. 

Do you offer those comments as a bus driver yourself?

I'm interested as to what reminders bus drivers may be given about 'low bridges on your new route' if their duties are changed at such short notice?

[LiskeardRich]

I can now understand the used to single deck comments having seen a friends reaction earlier this evening. Not quite the same but I was passenger with a friend who was driving a high top transit, normally he uses a standard lower top transit. He took out the height restrictor bar at a fast food drive thru that his normal transit goes through daily. It took him a few seconds to realise what he'd just done and remember it was a high top transit. Can only imagine if someone is driving a single decker day in day out they would forget they are in a double decker if it isnt their normal bus