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

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

... or the fire service didn't want to show any commercial logo in their photo? 

[Brucey]

Another open top bus conversion, this time in Stockport: http://news.sky.com/story/1121181/bus-roof-ripped-off-after-hitting-railway-bridge

[Chris from Nailsea]

Details of two more incidents ... 

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Rail bridge rips top off school bus near Dalry


No children were on board when the incident took place

A school bus has had its roof ripped off after passing under a railway bridge in North Ayrshire. No school children were on board the double-decker when the incident took place on the A737, near Dalry, at about 07:35 on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said the driver of the bus was not injured. She said the road was closed until 09:20 to allow for the damaged bus to be removed and a clean-up operation to be completed.

Also from the BBC:

Westbourne mechanic gets bus wedged under bridge


Yellow Buses said the vehicle was not using one of its usual routes

A mechanic has been suspended after taking a double-decker bus for a test drive and getting it wedged under a railway bridge.

Traffic had to be diverted for more than an hour while the tyres were deflated and the bus recovered, in Prince of Wales Road, Westbourne.

No passengers were on board and the driver was unhurt.

Yellow Buses said the vehicle was on a road test on Thursday and was not using one of its usual routes.

Jenni Wilkinson, head of marketing, said: "The bus involved was not in service. An engineer has been suspended while an internal investigation is carried out."

A structural engineer assessed the bridge but rail services were unaffected.

Michael Waylett, from Westbourne, spotted the bus as he walked past the scene. He said: "It's obviously a bit of a silly thing to do. It doesn't make any sense to bring it down there. It's not a bus route so I don't know what it was doing, so it now makes sense that it was on a road test."

[Chris from Nailsea]

Another fairly neat job - this time from the St Albans & Harpenden Review:

Investigation underway into Harpenden railway bus crash



An investigation is underway after a double-decker bus crashed into a railway bridge in Harpenden this morning.

A spokesman for Uno confirmed they would be speaking to the driver as to why he was covering the wrong route, which caused the roof of the bus to be ripped off after it smashed into the railway bridge in Station Road at 8.30am this morning.

The bus has now been removed and the road has been reopened. There were no injuries as a result of the incident and the bus was empty at the time

[Brucey]

A London United bus will be finding it's way into tourist service rather soon.  From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page).

A bus has been damaged after taking a wrong turn and hitting a railway bridge in south-west London.

The 131 double-decker bus was out of service when the collision happened at 13:00 GMT on Coombe Road in Kingston.

Transport for London (TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) said there were no passengers on board the bus and no reported injuries.

Alex Whitman, who saw the aftermath of the crash, said: "I was quite shocked. It's one of those things you don't expect to see."

Mike Weston, TfL's Director of Buses, said: "The bridge was not damaged and rail services are unaffected.

"There were no injuries and the incident will be fully investigated."

The road has been closed in both directions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25496956

[JayMac]

Accompanying picture from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) article:



That's a pretty comprehensive de-roofing.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'd give that a seven out of ten.

This latest one just doesn't have the pure artistry of a complete removal of the roof in one piece: nor does it have the result of the upper floor seats all being left apparently unscathed.

For my favourite contender, to date, see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=6748.msg132997#msg132997 

[LiskeardRich]

I'd give that a seven out of ten.

This latest one just doesn't have the pure artistry of a complete removal of the roof in one piece: nor does it have the result of the upper floor seats all being left apparently unscathed.

For my favourite contender, to date, see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=6748.msg132997#msg132997 

The link is going to a post in the middle of the Kearsney and Chelmsford posts, I'm assuming Chelmsford though as that looks pretty impressive and a tidy job done!

[bobm]

Another one - this time near Cheltenham.

From the Gloucestershire Echo

A double decker bus has collided with a bridge in Hyde Lane, Cheltenham, this morning.
 
The road is blocked in both directions and police are on the scene.
 
The bridge is close to the junction with Wymans Lane and Church Road.
 
Philip Green, who lives in Hyde Lane, was walking his dog and was under the bridge when the accident happened.
 
The Swanbrook bus was driving from Swindon Village towards Bishop's Cleeve and it hit the brudge,
 
The top of the bus was sliced off in the crash.
 
Mr Greensaid: "It showered me with debris. It could have killed me. I've never walked so close to death. I escaped death by inches."
 
Mr Green was taken to hospital by paramedics.
 
There are two ambulance, two police cars at the scene and the road remains closed.
 
A shaken Harriet Tweddle, said: "I was standing waiting for the bus. I saw the bus come down and I thought he's not going to make it. There was a hell of a noise and I ran over to see if anyone was hurt.
 
"It was only the driver. He was shaken and rather embarrassed and I stayed with Philip."
 
Richard Webb, 23, said: "The bus driver said he forgot it was a single-decker."

[GBM]

Another one - this time near Cheltenham.

From the Gloucestershire Echo

Sympathy to all involved, but especially to the driver.
So easily done (especially in our part of the world), so many things to think about all the time, with constant distractions.
 

[stuving]

Isn't it odd how a short item like that can contain a whole miniature detective puzzle.

Take the final quote - "The bus driver said he forgot it was a single-decker." Of course that may be wrong, especially as it is a second-hand quote. But assuming the quote is right, "it" can't be the bus he was driving. If he was in the right bus but on the wrong road, he would not have said that. So, logically, he must have been in the wrong bus - "it" being the single-decker he should have driven. If the wrong bus was scheduled by someone else, again his words are inappropriate. So either he scheduled the buses as well as driving this one (not impossible in a small company like this) or he took the wrong one out of the yard!

Then consider the other quote - "I was standing waiting for the bus. I saw the bus come down and I thought he's not going to make it." Was she waiting for this bus, or another one? Her words are only natural as given if it was this bus, though they may have been "tidied up". There does not seem to be a Swanbrook route here, nor a bus stop just after the bridge - though, again, the on-line data on this could be wrong (e.g. out of date). But, excepting such errors, she was waiting for this contract bus (a school bus, probably) just after the bridge. But why was the bus empty? If it had already called at Swindon Village and was going to Bishop's Cleeve that makes no sense. So it must have really been going somewhere else, or for some other purpose. Or, if she was waiting for another bus but before the bridge, and saw it "come down" the road towards her, would she have said that?

Raises more questions than it answers, really.

[JayMac]

Also, what's a 'brudge'? 

[bobm]

..and I was going to commend the Gloucestershire Echo for getting the story on line, with a picture, within an hour of it happening.   Perhaps I won't now.

[Red Squirrel]

Also, what's a 'brudge'? 

I'm not one to gear one, as the Speverant Rooner once said.

[stuving]

..and I was going to commend the Gloucestershire Echo for getting the story on line, with a picture, within an hour of it happening.   Perhaps I won't now.

In case you think I'm celebrating "let's be mean to local journalists week", I do realise that these operations work with pretty low staff levels, so they are expected not only to be quick but to churn out lots of the stuff. So if I say they obviously don't read what they have written, that's no more than a mild criticism. And it's nothing new, after all.