Listed iron footbridge is knocked over by train

Maisie LillywhiteBBC News, Gloucestershire
News imageBBC A section of railway which has bits of broken metal pedestrian bridge over and around it after an engineering train, which is still on the tracks, hit it. Workmen can be seen in hi vis jackets, talking to one another. There is lots of tall, brown grass on the rusty brown railway and it is surrounded by woodland.BBC
The iron lattice Victorian bridge was built 133 years ago

A Grade II listed footbridge has been damaged after being hit by an engineering train on a heritage line.

The 133-year-old Victorian lattice iron bridge at St Mary's Halt in Lydney, Gloucestershire, was restored only in 2019 – and is said to be the last surviving piece of infrastructure from the historic Severn and Wye Railway.

Dean Forest Railway, which runs steam trains and heritage diesel services on the line, said no one was harmed in the incident, which happened just before 11:00 BST on Thursday.

It said its staff and volunteers were now working with the Office of Rail and Road and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

News imageThe start of a metal pedestrian bridge, which crosses a railway, is cordoned off with white and red tape. There is a metal barrier along the path leading up to it, for people to hold on to. On the other side of the path is overgrown brambles and weeds. The railway and path are surrounded by woodland.
The broken bridge has been cordoned off to the public

The bridge, north of the A48 and to the west of Lydney Lake, was cordoned off to the public after being knocked over.

Severn and Wye Railway was originally constructed as a tramroad network in the Forest of Dean more than two centuries ago.

The only remaining part of it in use, for heritage trips, spans 4.5 miles (7.2km) from Lydney Junction Station, which is near Lydney Harbour, to Parkend.

Dean Forest Railway said it would be running a reduced service over the weekend.

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