Lickey Incline

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

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.

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.