It proceeded about five miles to Desford, then swung north west towards Bagworth. The original Bagworth station was at the foot of a 1 in 29 self-acting inclined plane to the summit at . Then the line passed through a cutting at Battleflat before reaching Bardon Hill and on to Long Lane where new collieries were opened. Beyond Long Lane the railway descended by a further inclined plane of 1 in 17 to the existing coal mines at Swannington and an end on connection with the Coleorton Tramway, which linked to further coal mines and limestone quarries. The track was to be single throughout. Construction began almost immediately, but soon ran into trouble, particularly with the tunnel. Initial boring had suggested that it would not need a lining. However, it turned out that some would be through porous sandstone. During its construction in 1831 the contractor, Daniel Jowett, fell down a working shaft and was killed. The low power of contemporary steam engines meant that where the gradient was steepest, locomotive haulage gave way to other means. As was common in those days, ""There were two inclines on the line: one at Bagworth, rising at 1 in 29 towards Swannington and worked by gravity; and a much steeper though shorter one at the Swannington end, descending at 1 in 17 and worked by stationary engine ..."" The latter was built by the Horsely Coal and Iron Company, and was equipped with a very early example of a piston valve. The first part of the line opened on 17 July 1832 with a train hauled by "Comet", driven by George Stephenson himself, with driver Weatherburn, from Leicester to the first Bagworth station at the foot of Bagworth incline. The locomotive's high chimney was knocked down by Glenfield Tunnel, due to the track having been packed up too high. It is said that the train stopped so that the passengers could wash themselves in the nearby Rothley Brook. Difficulties remained with the cutting at Battleflat and the remainder of the line to Swannington did not open until 1833. By the end of 1833 the line was delivering coal from Whitwick, Ibstock and Bagworth collieries far more cheaply than could be done from the Erewash Valley. The expansion of the coal trade transformed the area, even giving rise to a new town at Long Lane - Coalville. George Stephenson himself settled at Ravenstone, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch and, with his son Robert, opened a colliery at Snibston in 1833.