Travel to and from Birmingham

Roads

The city is served by possibly the most well-known motorway junction in the United Kingdom: Spaghetti Junction, a colloquial name for the Gravelly Hill Interchange. Birmingham introduced a Clean Air Zone from 1 June 2021, which charges polluting vehicles to travel into the city centre.

Air

Birmingham Airport is located east of the city in Solihull, it is the 3rd busiest airport outside the London area, services operate from Birmingham to many destinations in Europe, Africa, the Americas, Middle East, and Asia. Birmingham is also served by East Midlands Airport, northeast of the city centre.

Public transport

There are 34 railway stations in Birmingham. The main railway station in the city is Birmingham New Street, which is the busiest railway station in the United Kingdom outside London. Services run from London Euston, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley to Birmingham. Birmingham Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill form the northern termini trains running from London Marylebone.

Local and regional services are operated from all of Birmingham’s stations by West Midlands Trains.

Curzon Street railway station will be the terminus for trains to the city on High Speed 2, which will open around 2030.

Bus and trams

Birmingham’s local public transport network is co-ordinated by Transport for West Midlands. The network includes the busiest urban rail system in the United Kingdom outside London, the United Kingdom’s busiest urban bus system outside London, and the West Midlands Metro, a light rail system that operates between Library in Central Birmingham and Wolverhampton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich.

The number 11 outer circle bus route is the longest urban bus route in Europe, with 272 bus stops.

Birmingham has no underground system; it is the largest city in Europe not to have one. No underground system has been planned due to the ongoing expansion of the West Midlands Metro tram network.

Canals

An extensive canal system remains in Birmingham from the Industrial Revolution. The city has more miles of canal than Venice, though the canals in Birmingham are a less prominent and essential feature due to the larger size of the city and the fact that few of its buildings are accessed by canal. The canals are mainly used today for leisure purposes.

Map showing Birmingham stations