Coach passengers covered in debris as bus strikes low bridge

Shocked passengers on a rail replacement coach were left covered in debris when the bus smashed into a low bridge in the West Midlands.

Around 25 people were on the bus travelling from Telford to Wolverhampton when it hit the bridge in the village of Albrighton in Shropshire on Saturday night.

The bus was operating after a landslip on the railway line between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton.

Passenger Kathleen Riot told The Independent: “We were leaving Albrighton station when the bus went under a low bridge and took off the air conditioning unit and sun roofs on top.

“On one side of the bus, passengers were covered in rubble and water as parts of the unit came down. People were quite shocked but luckily no-one was hurt. It could have been much worse.”

Pictures taken by Ms Riot showed firefighters at the scene of the crash at around 7pm. A new bus was scheduled to take passengers on, but for Ms Riot, who had been heading to Wolverhampton to watch bands at a pub, she headed back to Telford.

She added: “It’s not the driver’s fault, but these buses are sent out for rail replacements in areas which they don’t know and when it’s dark. So it’s not surprising something like this happened.”

The landslip was caused when around 5,000 tonnes of material slipped beneath a 50-metre section of the railway after heavy rainfall, said Network Rail.

The bus crash was confirmed by West Midlands Railway, which operates the line, to the BBC.