When buses crashed into the Botley Road rail bridge

Passengers on the upper deck had to walk along a low passage before climbing into their seats, while those on the right of the lower deck had to be careful not to bang their heads on the low ceiling.

Many buses were too high to pass under the bridge, and the bus company had to invest in the low-line vehicles to keep services going.

Sometimes, though, things went wrong and buses came to grief.

The picture above dates from 1977 when a Midland Red bus, on contract in Oxford, was returning to the bus garage in Cowley Road after taking workers from the atomic energy plant at Harwell to Stanford-in-the-Vale, near Wantage.

Thankfully, it was empty, apart from driver Barry Pugh, 33, who said: “At first, I thought something had fallen on top of the bus, then I realised the top was being torn off like a sardine can.

“I only travel this route now and again and I hadn’t been told the bus was too tall to get under the bridge.”

At that time, it was believed that the bridge had claimed at least 13 bus roofs since 1950.

The Midland Red bus was 14ft 4in high while the bridge had headroom of only 13ft 3in.

Clifford Fletcher, assistant traffic manager of Oxford South Midland bus company, said: “This is not the sort of incident we like to happen. The bridge is a pain in the neck and is a considerable restriction to us when it comes to planning.”

The crash left wreckage in the road and caused long tailbacks in both directions as traffic was reduced to a one-way crawl under the bridge. Repairs to the bus were estimated at £1,500.

The advertisement on the side of the bus from the Cleansing Service Group was particularly appropriate – ‘Where there’s muck – there’s us!’

There was certainly plenty of debris left in the road after this crash.

The lower picture shows a bus which had its roof completely sliced off by the bridge in 1967.

This bus crashed into the Botley Road rail bridge in 1967 (Image: Oxford Mail)

Notices were posted in bus cabs warning drivers not to use the route. Warning horns and illuminated signs – described as the ‘magic eye plan’ by the Oxford Mail – were put on the bridge.

Later, the road was lowered to prevent further accidents.

Hopefully, there will be plenty of room, height and clearance for buses when the reconstructed bridge and road finally open after the three-year closure to traffic in the summer!

Network Rail contractors Kier installed the new bridge in February and the Botley Road is expected to reopen to traffic at the end of August.