THE NEW Class 730 electric trains serving the Cross City Line have recorded the fastest speed over the Lickey Incline – the UK’s steepest railway gradient.
Steam train era locomotives routinely had to have additional engines to take on the 1/37.7 gradient and to get uphill help.
Even today some heavy freight trains still need help.
Modern express trains, such as the CrossCountry Voyagers, routinely pass through Bromsgrove at 80mph and with full power will fall to about 70mph at the top of the hill and could be considered ‘Kings of the Lickey’.
But, findings from The Railway Performance Society, show the Class 730 trains – introduced onto the Cross City Line in 2025 – can routinely accelerate to 75mph up the hill from a standing start as they journey between Bromsgrove and Lichfield.
Drivers even have to ease the power to avoid exceeding the 75mph speed limit at the top (Blackwell).
Passengers on the trains may notice the carriage is slightly inclined but in a 730 unit there is little impression that a steep hill is being climbed.
The classic single car DMUs that ran on this route would be doing about 25mph at the top from a standing start, a locomotive hauled express (pre-1990) would see speed fall from around 80mph to 35mph with a 10 coach train.
Exceptionally the former Bristol Glasgow Sleeper with its 15 or 16 coaches would require banking assistance to achieve about 30mph up the hill.
