Transport in Birmingham

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Due in part to its location in central England, Birmingham is a major transport hub.

Contents

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Railways

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Mainline Services

A large number of railway lines from all over Britain meet at Birmingham New Street, which is the central hub of the UK rail network and has regular train services to all of the major cities in the UK. Trains to London Marylebone Station can also be caught at Moor Street station or Snow Hill station, though Snow Hill's London services are due to be diverted into Moor Street station in 2009.

A redevelopment of Birmingham's New Street Station is on the cards for 2011. The £350 million scheme will transform the station, introducing an imposing glass roof to enable light to flood onto the new concourse.

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Local Services

There is also a substantial network of rail services within Birmingham and the West Midlands county, operated by Central Trains and supported by Centro (the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive), among the main lines is the Cross City railway line, which operates from Lichfield through Birmingham New Street to Redditch. A similar rail service operates from Wolverhampton through New Street to Coventry.

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Midland Metro

The Midland Metro, a light-rail tram system promoted by Centro, currently connects Birmingham to Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. Further expansion in Birmingham City Centre has been approved. There are currently plans to extend the system across Birmingham and the West Midlands.

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Possible underground system

The Conservative-Lib-Dem alliance running Birmingham City Council have proposed an underground system as an alternative to expansion of the Midland Metro. A £150,000 feasibility study is being conducted, looking at the benefits and drawbacks of a state-of-the-art, £3 billion underground system serving the city.

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Buses and Coaches

Local bus services in Birmingham are largely operated by Travel West Midlands which operates a large network based on a range of services operating along main roads out of Birmingham (there are few Cross City services) and the Birmingham Outer Circle bus service, the longest urban bus service in Europe.

Most of the network is operated on a purely commercial basis, however services in evenings and on Sundays are supported by Centro. 'Independent' operators provide a range of services, either in competition to Travel West Midlands or under contract to Centro. Smaller operators include Peoples Express and Diamond Bus (Now part of the Go-Ahead Group), Zaks, Central Logistics and Chase. Longer distance bus services are operated from Birmingham. First Wyvern (formally First Midland Red) operates services to Worcester and Redditch. Arriva operates several services to Burton-on-Trent and Tamworth in Staffordshire.

Birmingham also forms a major hub in the National Express coach network, which is based in Birmingham and operates services from its coach station in Digbeth. This is due to be redeveloped by 2008 after plans to build a replacement coach station next to Snow Hill Station were abandoned due to a breakdown in discussions between National Express and the City Council. Birmingham also has a Megabus service to London.

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Roads

The M6 motorway connects Birmingham to London and the south, and the north-west of England and Scotland. Junction 6 of the M6 is also one of Birmingham's most famous landmarks, and probably the most famous motorway junction in the UK: Spaghetti Junction, officially called the Gravelly Hill Interchange. Other local motorways include:

  • The A38(M) which links Spaghetti Junction to the city centre
  • The M40, which connects Birmingham to London and Oxford
  • The M5, connecting Birmingham to the south-west of England
  • The M42, which connects Birmingham to the East Midlands
  • The M6 Toll, which enables through traffic on the M6 to bypass Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

Other major roads passing through Birmingham include:

Birmingham became known for its numerous road intersections, tunnels and overpasses. However, over the previous decade, the council has been removing these. Possibly, most notably, Masshouse Circus which was known as a "concrete collar" due to its profile of being elevated preventing development beyond it.

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Air

Birmingham is served by Birmingham International Airport, which has flights to all over Europe and to New York. The airport is served by the railway network at Birmingham International railway station. Train services are provided by [Virgin Trains] or Central Trains on contract to [Centro].

The airport also has 3 major bus services serving it. These being the 38 (Birmingham - Olton - International Airport), 900 (Birmingham - International Airport - Coventry) and the 966 (Erdington - International Station - Solihull Station). The majority of bus services are run by TWM (Travel West Midlands)

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Canals

Although it has no major river (the Rea, on which the City was founded, is now little more than a culverted stream, and the Tame, which only passes through the northern suburbs, is not navigable), Birmingham is at the hub of the country's canal network.

There are 35 miles (60 km) of canals within the city, of which most are navigable. Birmingham is often described as having more miles of canal than Venice. This is technically correct (Venice has 26 miles), however, Birmingham is far larger than Venice [1], so the latter has a far higher concentration of canals; and the type of waterway is very different.

Extensive regeneration of the canals has taken place since the 1980s, from dredging them to enable the smooth passage of narrowboats, to the massive investment in and construction of canalside living accommodation. Similar development is planned for the Eastside area in Digbeth.

Canals in Birmingham include:

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