Train line blocked after boat collides with bridge

Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk
Andrew Turner/BBC Somerleyton swing-bridge.Andrew Turner/BBC
Trains between Lowestoft and Norwich were being disrupted

A railway line was blocked after a boat collided with a swing bridge and became wedged.

The incident happened at the Somerleyton crossing over the River Waveney on the Norfolk-Suffolk border at about 11:00 BST.

Greater Anglia said train services between Lowestoft and Norwich would be cancelled, delayed or revised "until further notice".

Network Rail staff were at the scene investigating before the boat was removed and the lines reopened at 16:20.

Somerleyton swing-bridge
A boat collided with the Somerleyton swing-bridge

"A limited number of rail replacement buses have been sourced to operate between Lowestoft and Norwich," Greater Anglia previously said on its website.

Tickets were accepted on buses, X2, X21 and X22 between Lowestoft and Norwich, as well as the X1 and X11 services between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

The Somerleyton swing bridge was built in 1905 and carries the double-tracked Norwich to Lowestoft railway line.

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