Railway bridge reopens months after vehicle strike

A bridge carrying a heritage railway in Dorset that was damaged in a vehicle strike has been repaired after a five-day road closure.

The Victorian structure, which carries a little-used part of the Swanage Railway between Worgret Junction and Furzebrook, was damaged in August 2024.

Before the repair work, track maintenance and special event passenger trains, and trains from the mainline, had been unable to cross the bridge over Grange Road.

The railway will be applying for another road closure in the autumn so the metal girders and hand rails can be cleaned and repainted.

Repairs cost £90,000 and were carried out by specialist contractors.

Railway chairman and volunteer signalman Gavin Johns apologised for the road closure.

He said: "Arranging and scheduling the repairs to the Grange Road bridge has been detailed and protracted because of the need to liaise with insurance companies, bridge experts and repair contractors."

The brick and steel bridge was built in 1884 and carried its first passenger train in May 1885.

After British Rail withdrew services in 1972, the bridge continued to be used by trains transporting clay and gas from Furzbrook to the main line.

The last gas train ran in 2005 and Swanage Railway took over the three-mile section of track in 2014.

You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.