Lickey Incline
The Lickey Incline, south of Birmingham, is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in Great Britain. The climb is a gradient of 1 in 37.7 (2.65% or 26.5‰ or 1.52°) for a continuous distance of two miles (3.2 km). Constructed originally for the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) and opened in 1840 it is located on the Cross Country Route between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove stations in Worcestershire.
| Lickey Incline | |
|---|---|
An LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 working hard to ascend the Lickey at about 10 mph (16 km/h) with the smoke from the assisting banking engine seen at the back | |
| Overview | |
| Other name(s) | Lickey Bank |
| Technical | |
| Number of tracks | 2 |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
In earlier times many trains required the assistance of banking locomotives with associated logistical considerations to ensure that the train reached the top; now only the heaviest of freight trains require such assistance.
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