Incidents ‘causing chaos’: Safety calls after bus hits bridge

CALLS for significant action to prevent further collisions at a railway bridge on the northside of the city have been made after a double decker bus struck the bridge yesterday morning.

The Bus Éireann vehicle was heading towards Blackpool when it collided with the bridge at the end of Dublin Hill shortly after 9am. Four units from Cork City Fire Brigade, gardaí, and ambulance services attended the scene where the bus was wedged in the railway bridge almost on its side.

Bus Éireann said there were no passengers on board and it would carry out a full investigation.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran said that the incident highlights that existing signage warning of the height restrictions is “clearly insufficient”.

Independent councillor Ken O’Flynn said the situation has become “untenable”, with accidents and damage “causing chaos” in the area.

The road at Dublin Hill on the northside of the city was closed to traffic for some time yesterday following a road traffic collision (RTC) involving a double-decker bus.

The Bus Éireann vehicle was heading towards Blackpool when it collided with a railway bridge at the end of Dublin Hill shortly after 9am.

A spokesperson for Cork City Fire Brigade told The Echo that the fire service was alerted to the incident at 9.12am.

They described the bus as “wedged in the railway bridge” and said four units attended the scene, three from Anglesea St and one unit from Ballyvolane.

A Garda spokesperson said no injuries were reported as a result of the incident.

The road was closed for a time following the incident with diversions put in place.

Route 207A was unable to serve Dublin Hill and Blackpool village until the road reopened in the afternoon.

A spokesperson for Bus Éireann said the bus was not in service at the time of the collision, so there were no passengers on board.

The spokesperson said the bus driver was being “medically assessed” following the incident and that Bus Éireann was “grateful for the assistance of the emergency services”.

“Bus Éireann will carry out a full investigation into this incident,” the spokesperson added.

Last month, Mr Moran proposed that the city council would place HGV restrictions between the IDA business park on Dublin Hill and Blackpool Village.

His motion also included that the council would install “appropriate warning signs” at the business park, warning of the height restrictions at the railway bridge ahead.

The report to the motion from David Joyce, director of services for roads and environment operations, said: “Currently there are height restriction signs on Dublin Hill at Thorndale Estate/entrance to the IDA park, at Delaney Park, and on the bridge.

“Cork City Council will review the condition and location of these signs and any works deemed appropriate will be added to the works programme.”

Speaking yesterday, Mr Moran said he believes the existing signage is “clearly insufficient”.

“The bridge is struck too often for it to be a case of one or two unobservant drivers.

“Clearly beginning the ban on taller vehicles at the IDA site, before they proceed too far and too fast to stop, needs to be considered.

“Something suggested to me by a resident today was to place overhead clearance warning barriers on the approach to the railway bridge.”

Mr O’Flynn also called on Cork City Council and Irish Rail to take swift action to address ongoing safety concerns.

“The most recent incident involving a double-decker bus has demonstrated just how dangerous the situation has become,” he said.

Mr O’Flynn said consideration should be given to raising the railway bridge.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail said: “At Iarnród Éireann safety is our number one priority and we work closely with local authorities in Cork and in all locations where we have restricted height bridges.

“All of the necessary statutory signage is in place on the approach to the bridge and we also have details of all restricted height bridges on our network available on irishrail.ie.

“In this particular incident, there was a delay of 30mins to the 09:25 Cork Heuston. The bridge was inspected by our engineers and no structural damage occurred.”