Bridgnorth Cliff Railway - Definition and Overview

The Bridgnorth Cliff Railway or Castle Hill Railway is a cliff railway in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England.

Looking down from the top station

The railway links the High Town and Low Town areas of Bridgnorth. The track length is 201 ft (61.2 metres), with a gradient of 1 in 1.8 and a rise of 111 ft (33.8 metres) at an angle of 33 degrees. It is one of the steepest railways in the country, and at least one source (the information pannel outside the top station) claims it is both the steepest and shortest.

Originally one of four funicular railways in the UK built to the same basic design (the others were the Clifton Rocks Railway in Bristol; the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway in Devon; and the Constitution Hill Railway in Aberystwyth, Wales), it is now the sole remaining inland electric funicular railway in the country. The only other inland funicular railway is the modern cliff raiiway at the Centre for Alternative Technology near Machynlleth, Wales [1] (http://www.cat.org.uk/information/railway.tmpl?frames=%5Bframes%5D&subdir=visitus) which uses water power.

Contents

History

A public meeting in 1890 to discuss an altnerative method of communication between the two parts of Bridgnorth to the 200 steps between High Town and Low Town. A proposal to build a Patent Cliff Railway was subsequently put to the town council and construction started on 2nd November 1891.

The railway opened on 7th July 1892 by Mayor William Burton. A public holiday was proclaimed to celebrate the occasion.

Originally the railway was powered by a simple system using water and gravity. Water was pumped into a 2000 gallon (9000 litre) tank beneath the top car until its weight, a maximum of 11.5 tons (11.7 metric tonnes ), overcame that of the lower car. When the car reached the bottom station the tank was emptied and pumped up to a 30,000 gallon (136,000 litre) tank on the top of the upper station.

Between 1943 and 1944 the system was rebuilt to use electricity, with an official re-opening on 9th May 1944 by Mayor T.C. Pembro - who had taken office only 2 hours previously.

In 1955 the original heavy wooden cars were replaced by the 'up-to-date' stronger and lighter (5.4 tons / 5.5 metric tonnes) aluminium monocoque ones still in use today. Each car can carry up to 18 passengers.

The rails were replaced in about 1972 with the bullhead design formerlly used on mainline railways. The track gauge is 3ft 6in (1067mm) wide.

Current Situation

A vital part of the town's infrastructure the railway operates 362 days a year (it is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day). Each journey takes about 1 and a quarter minutes, and on an average day approximately 200 trips are made.

Although it remains in the town's ownership, the railway has been operated by a private company, the Bridgnorth Castle Hill Railway Company [2] (http://www.bridgnorthcliffrailway.co.uk/), since 1995.

As of December 2004 return tickets cost 70p with discounts available for groups. Single fares are not available.

External Links

Official site (http://www.bridgnorthcliffrailway.co.uk/) BBC Shropshire article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/features/places/bridgnorth/funicular_railway.shtml)