Lickey Incline

<p>The Lickey Incline, south of <a href="/facts/Birmingham/lNd1h81V">Birmingham</a>, is the steepest sustained main-line railway incline in <a href="/facts/Great_Britain/TNgGQRPj">Great Britain</a>.  The climb is a <a href="/facts/Gradient/TsR7uukj">gradient</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Birmingham_and_Gloucester_Railway/IYCbEH1x">Birmingham and Gloucester Railway</a> (B&GR) and opened in 1840, it is located on the modern <a href="/facts/Cross_Country_Route/EAFwQtpo">Cross Country Route</a> between <a href="/facts/Barnt_Green_railway_station/XyHBPKwQ">Barnt Green</a> and <a href="/facts/Bromsgrove_railway_station/q6mgW53Y">Bromsgrove</a> stations in <a href="/facts/Worcestershire/EpkMSBnL">Worcestershire</a>.
</p><p>In earlier times many trains required the assistance of <a href="/facts/Bank_engine/vBJejnSS">banking locomotives</a> 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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Lickey Incline open-in-new

Lickey Incline