Train services suspended between Newmarket and Ipswich after lorry hits bridge just outside Bury St Edmunds

Rail services between Newmarket and Ipswich have been suspended after a lorry hit a bridge this morning.

Suffolk Police were alerted at 7.35am to reports of a lorry wedged under a railway bridge at Little Saxham, just outside Bury St Edmunds.

The vehicle is awaiting recovery but train services are unable to pass the bridge.

There is a limited bus service in operation between Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds as well as Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge.

A train service is running between Newmarket and Cambridge.

Bridge strikes are a costly problem for the railway and can cause delays to train services and on the road network while damage is repaired.

Most of the vehicles that hit railway bridges are Heavy Goods Vehicles and buses, at a cost of around £13,000 per strike – costing the taxpayer around £23m a year.

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail route director for Anglia, said: “There is no excuse to not know the height of your vehicle before starting your journey.

“As well as putting lives in danger on both road and rail and causing lengthy delays for passengers and road users, drivers who chance it at bridges are at risk of losing their licenses and leaving their employers with a hefty bill for repairs and train delay costs, along with a strong threat to their own operators licence.”