Birmingham - Transport

Transport

Partly because of its central location, Birmingham is a major transport hub on the motorway, rail and canal networks. The city is served by the M5, M6, M40, and M42 motorways, and probably the best known motorway junction in the UK: Spaghetti Junction. The M6 passes through the city on the Bromford Viaduct, which at 5,600 metres (18,400 ft) is the longest bridge in the United Kingdom.

The National Express Group headquarters are located in Digbeth, in offices above the newly developed Birmingham Coach Station, which forms the national hub of the company's coach network.

Birmingham Airport, located six miles east of the city centre in the neighbouring borough of Solihull, is the seventh busiest by passenger traffic in the United Kingdom and the third busiest outside the London area after Manchester and Edinburgh. It is a major base for airlines including Flybe, Ryanair, Bmibaby, Monarch Airlines and Thomson Airways; and is connected by flag carrier airlines to major international hubs including Dubai, New York-Newark, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam.

Local public transport is by bus, local train and tram. Bus routes are mainly operated by National Express West Midlands, which accounts for over 80% of all bus journeys in Birmingham, however, there are around 50 other, smaller registered bus companies. The number 11 outer circle bus routes are the longest urban bus routes in Europe, being 26 miles (42 km) long with 272 bus stops.

The city's main railway station, Birmingham New Street, is the busiest interchange in the United Kingdom outside London, and second busiest station overall outside London. Birmingham Snow Hill station, another major railway station in the city centre, is also the terminus for the Midland Metro which operates between the station and Wolverhampton, also serving the nearby towns of Bilston, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. Birmingham Moor Street became the city's third major station following its restoration in 2002, with Chiltern Railways express trains running to London Marylebone. There are plans to extend the Midland Metro route further into Birmingham city centre. Birmingham has a large rail-based park and ride network that feeds the city centre.

Birmingham is also notable for its extensive canal system and the city is often noted for having more miles of canal than Venice. The canals fed the industry in the city during the Industrial Revolution. Canalside regeneration schemes such as Brindleyplace have turned the canals into tourist attractions.