GOWERTON: Lorry roof peeled open as notorious Trafle Mill bridge claims another victim

A lorry had its roof peeled open by Gowerton’s notorious railway bridge at midday on Friday, the latest in a long line of vehicles claimed by one of Wales’ most-struck bridges.

The Likewise Floors lorry became wedged under the Trafle Mill bridge on Victoria Road, its box body torn apart against the 3.3 metre girders and debris scattered across the carriageway.

Nobody was hurt, according to those at the scene, with traffic squeezing slowly past the stricken vehicle while it remained stuck.

The strike stopped trains as well as traffic. National Rail reported disruption between Swansea and Carmarthen while the bridge was checked, warning of delays until mid-afternoon.

Lines reopened shortly before 2pm once engineers were satisfied, with National Rail declaring the disruption fully cleared by around 3.15pm, though it warned services recovering through the afternoon could still run delayed or revised.

For Gowerton, the only surprise was the livery. A skip lorry hit the same bridge in April, losing control, colliding with a passing car and crashing into a pole on Fairwood Terrace.

The bridge is also the gateway to Fairwood Terrace itself, the street at the centre of the village’s other long-running saga: Persimmon’s plan for 216 homes on land beside the station, refused by Swansea Council on traffic grounds and now stalled at appeal, with the question of whether the roads around the station junction can cope at the heart of the fight.

Network Rail named Trafle Mill the most struck railway bridge in the entire Wales and Borders region in 2020, hit 33 times in ten years by lorries, buses and other large vehicles.

The bridge’s reputation was already national by then: in 2018 it ranked 18th on Network Rail’s list of Britain’s most bashed bridges after seven strikes in a single year, and the company said the region’s 100-plus strikes in the year to February 2020 had cost over £400,000.

The Trafle Mill strike log

The bridge’s recent record reads like a warning to every high-sided vehicle in Swansea:

• April 2026: a skip lorry’s lifting arm struck the underside, sending the driver into a passing car and a pole on Fairwood Terrace
• April 2023: a large van hit the structure, requiring emergency traffic management
• May 2022: an agricultural vehicle struck the bridge, closing Victoria Road for safety checks
• August 2020: a Swansea Council refuse lorry wedged underneath, gridlocking the village and disrupting bus routes
• June 2020: a commercial van from an environmental services firm struck the structure
• March 2020: a Kingsmill bread van had its entire roof sliced off
• October 2019: a lorry’s roof was ripped away and scattered across the road, halting trains while engineers checked for structural shifting

Network Rail has added extra warning signs and laser sensors at the bridge over the years. The strikes keep coming anyway.

Each one carries a cost beyond the crumpled vehicle: every strike forces trains to halt while the bridge is inspected, rippling delays along the West Wales line.

Local county councillors have repeatedly voiced frustration at the toll, saying even minor strikes effectively put the village into “lockdown” as gridlock spreads along the busy artery linking Kingsbridge and Gowerton.

Friday’s incident followed the pattern to the letter: a tall vehicle, a low bridge, a torn roof, and an afternoon of disrupted journeys for people who were nowhere near it.

By mid-afternoon the lorry had been freed, the debris cleared, and the bridge was back to waiting for the next one.