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

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

The driver of school bus which had its roof ripped off when he drove under a railway bridge has been suspended.
The 49-year-old was held on suspicion of drink-driving and dangerous driving after the incident in Station Road, Langley, Slough, on Wednesday.
It led to rail delays between London and Reading.
The driver, who was travelling from Iver in Buckinghamshire, has been bailed by police and suspended by Buckinghamshire County Council.
In a statement, the authority said: "We can confirm the driver has been suspended from his duties pending further investigations. The driver was arrested and this has now become a police matter on which we cannot comment further."
The driver was the only person on board and was not injured.
Police said there was no structural damage to the bridge and the road was reopened after several hours.

[Electric train]

Delayed the journey home yesterday 

If the drive was over the limit I think as a PSV holder even with an empty bus the drive is looking at a custodial sentence

Suppose there is now another open top bus available for tours this summer 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Jenny Mulholland, landlady of the nearby Willow Tree pub, said: "I just happened to look out the window and saw a bus with no roof and thought, 'that's a sight you don't see very often'."

 

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) (12/07/2010):

Drink-driving charge for Slough bridge crash bus driver

The driver of a school bus which had its roof ripped off when it hit a railway bridge has been charged with drink-driving and dangerous driving. Gurdeep Sagoo was travelling from Chalfont in Buckinghamshire when the bus hit the bridge in Station Road, Langley, Slough, on 12 May.

The 49-year-old, from Southwell, Middlesex, was bailed to appear before magistrates in Maidenhead on 26 July.

He was suspended by Buckinghamshire County Council pending the case.

Mr Sagoo was the only person on board and was not hurt.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Daily Mail:

Drunk school bus driver who sliced roof off double-decker avoids jail

A school bus driver who sliced off the roof of his double-decker as he tried to squeeze under a railway bridge while drunk has narrowly avoided going to jail. Gurdeep Singh Sagoo was three times over the drink-drive limit when he 'forgot' he was driving a double-decker. He had earlier dropped off 46 college students.

The accident in Langley, Berkshire, led to the main rail line between London and the West being closed and a bill of ^250,000 being handed to the coach company by Network Rail for 180 cancelled services.
 
At Reading Crown Court, a judge criticised him as 'thoughtless' and the college principal said it was a miracle that nobody had been hurt.

Sagoo, 49, had earlier admitted dangerous driving and driving while over the legal alcohol limit.
 
Joanne Belsey, prosecuting, told the hearing that on May 12 he collected the students from Chalfonts Community College in Gerrards Cross and drove the normal route. After dropping off all his passengers, he approached the bridge.
 
'The bridge was 12ft 9in high, and this was clearly signposted along with a number of yellow and black chevrons around it,' she said. 'The defendant drove through the bridge and the collision took place, removing the top section of the bus.'
 
Sagoo called police, who breathalysed him and found he had 97mg of alcohol in his breath, nearly three times the limit. He told police he had forgotten he was driving the double-decker as he usually drove a single-decker along the route. He also said that he had been drinking the night before with friends who were visiting from Canada, which he admitted was an 'error'.

Rachel Adams, defending, said her client was now jobless and cared for his elderly mother.

Sentencing, Judge Gordon Risius said Sagoo's driving was 'thoughtless' rather than reckless. He gave Sagoo, of Southall, west London, an eight- month jail term suspended for two years. He also ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and banned him from driving for two years.

A spokesman for Sagoo's former employer, Imperial coaches, said: 'It was a complete shock. Mr Sagoo had been working for us since January and was a good employee.'

Sue Tanner, headteacher of the college, said: 'All I could think was that it is a miracle that no children were hurt. Parents expect to have confidence in drivers who are taking responsibility for their children.'

My highlighting. CfN. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

A double decker bus has had its roof ripped off after crashing into a railway bridge in Edinburgh.

The driver of the Club Class bus is understood to have misjudged the height of the bridge in Roseburn Street, Murrayfield, at about 1420 GMT.

One passenger on the top deck was thrown downstairs when the bus hit the bridge. There were also three passengers sitting downstairs.

Lothian and Borders Police said the road would be closed until 1700 GMT.

The passenger who was sitting upstairs only received minor injuries.

Erm ... "The driver of the Club Class bus is understood to have misjudged the height of the bridge ..."?

It's 12' 9", according to the sign.

[inspector_blakey]

No kidding! Doesn't look like he was even close to clearing that bridge.

[LiskeardRich]

did the driver think he was driving a single decker, whats the height of a double decker!

[readytostart]

From recolection of my ScotRail days Club Class buses are like mobile nightclubs, all double deckers, taking revellers between different venues. My guess is that the driver was trying to get to or from Murrayfield stadium.

[Chris from Nailsea]

... in this case, all four revellers, at 14:20 - one upstairs, and three downstairs. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

The roof of a double decker bus which was carrying passengers was ripped off after it went under a low level railway bridge in Cheshire.



Ambulance crews attended but police said no-one was seriously injured in the crash which took place on Silk Road, Macclesfield, at about 1730 GMT.

The road was closed between Buxton Road and Sunderland Street and rail services through the area have been disrupted.

An investigation is under way into why the bus was travelling on the route.

See also the Manchester Evening News:

Video: Roof torn off double decker bus as it crashes under 11ft high railway bridge in Macclesfield

[inspector_blakey]

 

Looks like a very fortunate escape for all concerned. Seems a bit strange to me that the bridge made such a neat job of slicing the roof off that bus though - has it been tidied up, is there some kind of structural weakness that results in this happening, or is it intentional?

I don't know if there are still any in traffic with First Bristol, but the Volvo/Alexander double deckers that used to operate Badgerline country services to/from W-s-M and were later cascaded to Portishead/Clevedon etc used to have a prominent sticker above the driving position advising that because of their height they could not pass under Bitton or Stapleton Road railway bridges, thus precluding their use on the 332 and possibly other services as well.

[Chris from Nailsea]

A similarly near-professional finish was achieved in Glasgow, just over six months ago: See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=7427.0

... a prominent sticker above the driving position ...

Ah, but were those stickers in Polish, too? See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=3670.msg28533#msg28533 

[JayMac]

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

A double-decker bus struck a tree and lost its roof in Bristol injuring 18 people, seven of whom were taken to hospital.

Crews were called to Fishponds Road following the accident involving the 342 service just after 07:40 BST.

Great Western Ambulance Service said those injured mainly had head injuries, but none was seriously hurt.

The busy road was closed for several hours but reopened just before 12:00 BST.

Operator First Bus confirmed one of its fleet had been involved in the incident.



'Loud bang'

"The top of the double-decker bus was in collision with some tree branches which were hanging over the road," a First Bus spokeswoman said. "The bus was in service at the time, with a number of passengers on board. Our teams are on the scene and are working with the relevant authorities to determine exactly what has happened. Our thoughts are currently with those people who were on the bus at the time of the incident and their friends and family."

Jonathan Pomeyie, who lives nearby, said he had been at the back of his house making a cup of tea when he heard a loud bang.

"It was a very deep impact type of sound, like an explosion. At first I wasn't too sure what it was. I [later] got a phone call from one of my friends who said there had been a bus accident so I looked out of a window to see if there were any delays to the traffic. I saw police, paramedics and firemen everywhere. It was a horrid and unbelievable sight to wake up to."

[inspector_blakey]

Not that I just Googled this and found a Daily Mail Article or anything, but their photo caption reads as follows...

"The 342 bus had all of its roof torn off, after colluding with a low-hanging branch" 

Damn those conspiratorial tree branches, good thing no-one was seriously hurt.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2052765/Bristol-bus-accident-6-injured-double-decker-roof-ripped-branch.html#ixzz1bixBvlUj