Pictured: Britain’s railway line, Europe’s shortest line – it’s less than a mile long and passengers travel along it in quirky ‘people movers’ at a top speed of 20mph
Britain doesn’t have many railway records at the moment, but it does have a line in the West Midlands that lays claim to the title of Europe’s shortest: the Stourbridge branch line.
At just 1.2 km/1287 meters long, it is also Britain’s shortest railway line.
In addition, the service it runs is operated by ‘Pre Metro’ and West Midlands Railway using a pair of rare Class 139 ‘Parry People Movers’.
They are the only Class 139s in service in Great Britain.
The single-car vehicles – the brainchild of light rail pioneer John Parry – are described by Premetro as ‘self-sufficient trams’, powered by a hybrid flywheel and an LPG (liquid petroleum gas) engine.
The shortest railway line in Europe: the Stourbridge branch line
The website for the line explains that the flywheel allows the shuttle to perform regenerative braking, where the vehicle’s kinetic energy is collected during braking and later reused for acceleration.
The to-and-fro line opened in 1879 and today carries Parry People Mover passengers across it at a speed of 20mph.
The journey between Stourbridge Town and Stourbridge Junction takes just three minutes and services depart every 10 minutes.
The service running on the Stourbridge branch line is operated by ‘Pre Metro’ and West Midlands Railway using a pair of rare Class 139 ‘Parry People Movers’
The journey between Stourbridge Town and Stourbridge Junction takes just three minutes and services depart every 10 minutes
The line opened in 1879 and today carries Parry People Mover passengers at speeds of up to 20mph.
That’s 1,370 services per week, with two drivers for “safety and excellent customer service,” according to Pre Metro.
The line was originally built to transport goods and people between the Stourbridge canal basin and the mainline railway network at Stourbridge junction, providing a vital link to Worcester, Kidderminster and Birmingham.
Another remarkably short passenger route in Britain is the journey by plane from Papa Westray to Westray in the Scottish archipelago of Orkney, with the flight covering a distance of just 1.7 miles.
It only lasts one minute and 14 seconds.
The shortest railway line in the world is Los Angeles Angels Flight Cable Carwhich is only 298 feet long.
It takes passengers from Hill Street to Grand Avenue.
The single-car Class 139s – the brainchild of light rail pioneer John Parry – are described as ‘self-sufficient trams’