Irish Rail reveals scale of Laois signs to tackle Portlaoise bridge hits

Irish Rail has revealed the latest measure to address the problem of bridge hits in the town.

Trains and local road users were left stuck waiting last Wednesday, May 11 after truck struck hit a bridge in Portlaoise on the Mountrath Road.

It’s not the first time the Mountrath Road railway or the Moutmellick Road train bridges have been hit by lorries.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail responded to queries from Leinster Express in relation to existing warning signs which are not functioning.

She said the existing warning signs are now obsolete and cannot be repaired. However, the spokesperson said new signs are on track which are already in use on Amien's Street in Dublin.

Such signs have a build in laser which detects the height of trucks. A message will flash on the bridge if it is found that the vehicle is too high to pass underneath. Irish Rail says these signs will be operational in Laois by the end of 2022.

The spokesperson added that the height of bridges are already displayed on structures to communicate to drivers whether they can already pass under safely. An map of all signs is also available on the Irish Rail website added the spokesperson who insisted that awareness of vehicle and bridge height is a driver's responsibility.

Bridge hits in Portlaoise have been a decades old problem.