Lorry cab crashes on to tracks and causes rail chaos

The safety of barriers between roads and railway lines was in question once again yesterday after the cab of an articulated lorry hit a bridge owned by Railtrack and ended up in the path of a freight train.

The driver escaped from his truck seconds before it was hit by the train and carried for more than half a mile.

The bridge is among thousands yet to be assessed in response to the Selby disaster in 2001. All such structures are being reviewed after the Yorkshire accident in which a Land Rover ended up on the east coast main line and caused a collision that killed 10 people.

In yesterday's crash, between Lawford and Ardleigh in Essex, the lorry careered out of control in wet conditions and hit the bridge parapet. The cab split from its wheel-base and shot over the wall onto the line. A spokesman for Railtrack said the roads authority – in this case Essex County Council – was responsible for assessing the safety of the bridge. A spokeswoman for the council said it had reviewed all road bridges it owned over railways, but had yet to complete the assessment of structures owned by other agencies, such as Railtrack.

A police spokeswoman said the lorry had turned on its side before striking the bridge. "The cab sheared off from the chassis and went down an embankment. The wall of the bridge was left intact, with the cab going over the top of the wall. As far as we know, no other vehicle was involved, but we are waiting to talk to the driver."

The driver of the 20-wagon freight train, which was carrying freight containers, was shaken but not hurt. The accident at about 5.20am caused severe disruption to rush-hour services, the line being closed between Colchester in Essex and Ipswich in Suffolk.

Maxine Smith, 39, who lives next to the line, said she was woken by a loud crash. She said: "The lorry is now on my front lawn. We heard a mighty bang like an explosion – we were asleep – and we looked out of the window. My friend who had been driving to work came running in and said, 'There's a lorry on its side on the railway bridge'. I rang the emergency services straight away."

Her husband, Andrew, 41, and others went down the embankment to the track. Mrs Smith said: "The driver had got out and I was on the phone to the emergency services when the train hit the cab. I told them, 'The cab's on the line and the cab has been hit'. I felt sick.

"There were three people down there and there was debris all over. The driver had rolled himself off the track towards the embankment. We have been trying to get the speed limit reduced along this road from 60mph to 40mph but we have just heard the police have rejected this."

After the Selby crash, the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, ordered a working group to look at the problem of vehicles obstructing railway lines. In February, the group's report called for a programme of action to reduce the likelihood of such accidents.

About 10,000 sites where there could be a possibility of road vehicles obstructing tracks are being assessed. The plan is that within 12 months, lower-risk locations will be filtered out and "more dangerous" areas will be identified for action.