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EspañolTRANSPORT IN BIRMINGHAM
(Redirected from Transport in Birmingham, England)
Birmingham is a major 'transport' hub, due in part to its location in central England. Public transport in the city is overseen by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive whose public brand is Centro/Network West Midlands.
A large number of railway lines from all over Britain meet at Birmingham New Street, which is a central hub of the UK rail network and has regular train services to all of the major cities in Great Britain.[1] 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.[2]
New Street Station is set for redevelopment in a £500 million scheme named Birmingham Gateway. The purpose of the project is to improve passenger facilities and to increase passenger capacity at the station, which is currently running at over capacity.[3]
An alternative scheme has been suggested by Arup''Birmingham Grand Central - Unlocking the Network (pdf)'' by Colin Stewart, Arup and Murray B Rayner, FRICS, which would involve the construction of a new station adjacent to Moor Street Station, so that the approaches to the New Street could be improved and the station would provide better interchange facilities. The amount of land required would be very large and would also require a the loss of numerous proposed redevelopment projects in the Eastside area. The station would stretch from Moor Street to the former mainline station at Curzon Street. Arup have named the project 'Birmingham Grand Central'. The projected cost of the new station is over £500 million.
There is a substantial network of rail services within Birmingham and the West Midlands county, operated by Central Trains and supported by Centro/Network West Midlands, 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.
A study of capacity of New Street Station found that there was adequate capacity for the existing and planned services for a few more years. A footnote stated that this assumed a number of minor improvements on the local network including the Bordesley Curve and the Benson Road Chord. The improvements would divert some existing and proposed services into Snow Hill and achieve a Snow Hill Network.
Main articles: Midland Metro
The Midland Metro, a light-rail tram system promoted by Centro/Network West Midlands, currently connects Birmingham to Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. Further expansion in Birmingham City Centre has been approved[4], however, government officials said no decision would be made on funding the plans until 2008.[5] There are currently plans to extend the system across Birmingham and the West Midlands.[6]
In the early 1950s, the government planned to protect essential communications by building a series of hardened underground telephone exchanges. Construction of the Anchor exchange in Birmingham started in 1953 with a cover story was that a new underground rail network was being built. Work progressed until 1956 when the public were told the project was no longer economic; instead Birmingham got its underpasses through the city to help relieve congestion. An underground exchange and tunnel system 100ft below Newhall Street had been completed at a cost £4 million. The main tunnel runs from Anchor to Midland ATE in Hill Street, from there the tunnel continued under New Street Station and on to the exchange in Essex Street.Subbrit: Birmingham Anchor Telephone Exchange
More recently, the Conservative-Lib-Dem alliance running Birmingham City Council proposed an underground system as an alternative to expansion of the Midland Metro.[7] A £150,000 feasibility study[8] was conducted, looking at the benefits and drawbacks of a state-of-the-art, £3 billion underground system serving the city.[9] Upon the outcome of the report, the city council backed plans for a street metro system.[10]
Over 90% of public transport use in the West Midlands is by bus.[11] There are approximately 50 operators of registered local bus services in the West Midlands. The largest bus operator in the area is Travel West Midlands, which accounts for over 80% of all journeys. Travel West Midlands operates a large network based on a range of services radiating out of Birmingham City Centre (there are few Cross City services) and the Birmingham Outer Circle bus service, the longest urban bus service in Europe which chiefly follows the A4040 circular road. A free "Stationlink" bus service operated by CentralConnect links Birmingham New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street railway stations, as well as Digbeth Coach Station.
Most of the network is operated on a purely commercial basis, with some services (usually evenings and Sundays) 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 Diamond Bus (now part of the Go-Ahead Group), CentralConnect (Formally known as Zaks[12] and Birmingham Motor Traction), Central Logistics, Choice Travel (part of D&G[13]) and Redwing Contracts. Longer distance bus services are operated from Birmingham. First Wyvern (formally First Midland Red) operates services to Worcester and Redditch. Arriva operates services to Tamworth & Kingsbury in Staffordshire. Warwickshire County Council also funds a frequent service to Stratford-upon-Avon operated by Stagecoach in Warwickshire (formally known as Stratford Blue).
Birmingham also forms a major hub in the National Express coach network, whose headquarters are to be moved to Birmingham from London.[14] The group operates services from its hub at coach station in Digbeth. This is due to be redeveloped in 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. The temporary station will be located opposite the current site on a former car dealership.[15] Birmingham also has a Megabus service to London. The companies flagship NXL Shuttle service operates to London as well as frequent services to the London airports, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Leicester and Bristol among others. Many of these services are cross-country services operating from north to south, Birmingham provides an interchange between these services.
The M40 motorway is the more direct motorway route towards London. It also passes the city of Oxford.
The M6 motorway also connects Birmingham to London (via the M1, therefore it is less direct) 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 M5, connecting Birmingham to the south-west of England
★ The M42, which connects Birmingham to Tamworth and 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:
★ The A34 from Manchester to Winchester
★ The A38 from Mansfield to Bodmin
★ The A41 from London to Birkenhead
★ The A45 from Birmingham to Thrapston (formerly to Felixstowe)
★ The A47 from Birmingham to Great Yarmouth
★ The A4540 'Middleway' ring road
★ The A4040 Outer Ring Road
Birmingham is served by Birmingham International Airport, which has flights to Europe and 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/Network West Midlands.
Frequent bus services will also operate from the airport to Coleshill Parkway railway station on the Birmingham - Leicester railway line when it opens in early 2007. This link will improve access to the East Midlands as well as providing further links to North Warwickshire and South-east Staffordshire.
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), with other various Warwickshire County Council funded services such as the 757 and 777 operating from here.
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:
★ The Birmingham Canal Navigations network, including the BCN Main Line and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
★ The Birmingham and Worcester Canal
★ The Grand Union Canal.
Birmingham has several reservoirs to feed its canals, including:
★ Edgbaston Reservoir
★ Lifford Reservoir
1. Renew Street: Birmingham New Street Station Prequalification Questionnaire
2. Network Rail Route Plans 2007: West Midlands Route 17
3. ReNew Street
4. ''Planning approval given to Midland Metro Birmingham city centre extension'' - Government News Network, 9 June 2005 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
5. ''Metro plans derailed for another two years'' - Birmingham Mail, Oct 26 2006 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
6. ''£322m needed for Metro extension'' - BBC News, 22 April 2006 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
7. ''Underground idea for Birmingham'' - BBC News, 14 June, 2003 (Accessed August 4, 2007)
8. ''Study on Brum underground'' - icBirmingham, Sep 15 2004 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
9. Centro: Birmingham City Centre Underground Study
10. '' Council support for Midland Metro expansion follows outcome of Birmingham underground study'' - Centro, 25-Oct-05 (Retrieved August 4 2007)
11. Centro: Bus Services
12. CentralConnect (under the Zaksbuses URL)
13. Choice Travel Services
14. ''National Express moves HQ to Brum'' - Birmingham Mail, Jul 26 2007 (Retrieved August 4 2007)
15. Bus and Coach: Birmingham's coach station saga
Birmingham is a major 'transport' hub, due in part to its location in central England. Public transport in the city is overseen by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive whose public brand is Centro/Network West Midlands.
| Contents |
| Railways |
| Mainline services |
| Local services |
| Midland Metro |
| Possible underground system |
| Buses and coaches |
| Roads |
| Air |
| Canals |
| References |
Railways
Mainline services
A large number of railway lines from all over Britain meet at Birmingham New Street, which is a central hub of the UK rail network and has regular train services to all of the major cities in Great Britain.[1] 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.[2]
New Street Station is set for redevelopment in a £500 million scheme named Birmingham Gateway. The purpose of the project is to improve passenger facilities and to increase passenger capacity at the station, which is currently running at over capacity.[3]
An alternative scheme has been suggested by Arup''Birmingham Grand Central - Unlocking the Network (pdf)'' by Colin Stewart, Arup and Murray B Rayner, FRICS, which would involve the construction of a new station adjacent to Moor Street Station, so that the approaches to the New Street could be improved and the station would provide better interchange facilities. The amount of land required would be very large and would also require a the loss of numerous proposed redevelopment projects in the Eastside area. The station would stretch from Moor Street to the former mainline station at Curzon Street. Arup have named the project 'Birmingham Grand Central'. The projected cost of the new station is over £500 million.
Local services
There is a substantial network of rail services within Birmingham and the West Midlands county, operated by Central Trains and supported by Centro/Network West Midlands, 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.
A study of capacity of New Street Station found that there was adequate capacity for the existing and planned services for a few more years. A footnote stated that this assumed a number of minor improvements on the local network including the Bordesley Curve and the Benson Road Chord. The improvements would divert some existing and proposed services into Snow Hill and achieve a Snow Hill Network.
Midland Metro
Main articles: Midland Metro
The Midland Metro, a light-rail tram system promoted by Centro/Network West Midlands, currently connects Birmingham to Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. Further expansion in Birmingham City Centre has been approved[4], however, government officials said no decision would be made on funding the plans until 2008.[5] There are currently plans to extend the system across Birmingham and the West Midlands.[6]
Possible underground system
In the early 1950s, the government planned to protect essential communications by building a series of hardened underground telephone exchanges. Construction of the Anchor exchange in Birmingham started in 1953 with a cover story was that a new underground rail network was being built. Work progressed until 1956 when the public were told the project was no longer economic; instead Birmingham got its underpasses through the city to help relieve congestion. An underground exchange and tunnel system 100ft below Newhall Street had been completed at a cost £4 million. The main tunnel runs from Anchor to Midland ATE in Hill Street, from there the tunnel continued under New Street Station and on to the exchange in Essex Street.Subbrit: Birmingham Anchor Telephone Exchange
More recently, the Conservative-Lib-Dem alliance running Birmingham City Council proposed an underground system as an alternative to expansion of the Midland Metro.[7] A £150,000 feasibility study[8] was conducted, looking at the benefits and drawbacks of a state-of-the-art, £3 billion underground system serving the city.[9] Upon the outcome of the report, the city council backed plans for a street metro system.[10]
Buses and coaches
Over 90% of public transport use in the West Midlands is by bus.[11] There are approximately 50 operators of registered local bus services in the West Midlands. The largest bus operator in the area is Travel West Midlands, which accounts for over 80% of all journeys. Travel West Midlands operates a large network based on a range of services radiating out of Birmingham City Centre (there are few Cross City services) and the Birmingham Outer Circle bus service, the longest urban bus service in Europe which chiefly follows the A4040 circular road. A free "Stationlink" bus service operated by CentralConnect links Birmingham New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street railway stations, as well as Digbeth Coach Station.
Most of the network is operated on a purely commercial basis, with some services (usually evenings and Sundays) 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 Diamond Bus (now part of the Go-Ahead Group), CentralConnect (Formally known as Zaks[12] and Birmingham Motor Traction), Central Logistics, Choice Travel (part of D&G[13]) and Redwing Contracts. Longer distance bus services are operated from Birmingham. First Wyvern (formally First Midland Red) operates services to Worcester and Redditch. Arriva operates services to Tamworth & Kingsbury in Staffordshire. Warwickshire County Council also funds a frequent service to Stratford-upon-Avon operated by Stagecoach in Warwickshire (formally known as Stratford Blue).
Birmingham also forms a major hub in the National Express coach network, whose headquarters are to be moved to Birmingham from London.[14] The group operates services from its hub at coach station in Digbeth. This is due to be redeveloped in 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. The temporary station will be located opposite the current site on a former car dealership.[15] Birmingham also has a Megabus service to London. The companies flagship NXL Shuttle service operates to London as well as frequent services to the London airports, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Leicester and Bristol among others. Many of these services are cross-country services operating from north to south, Birmingham provides an interchange between these services.
Roads
The M40 motorway is the more direct motorway route towards London. It also passes the city of Oxford.
The M6 motorway also connects Birmingham to London (via the M1, therefore it is less direct) 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 M5, connecting Birmingham to the south-west of England
★ The M42, which connects Birmingham to Tamworth and 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:
★ The A34 from Manchester to Winchester
★ The A38 from Mansfield to Bodmin
★ The A41 from London to Birkenhead
★ The A45 from Birmingham to Thrapston (formerly to Felixstowe)
★ The A47 from Birmingham to Great Yarmouth
★ The A4540 'Middleway' ring road
★ The A4040 Outer Ring Road
Air
Birmingham is served by Birmingham International Airport, which has flights to Europe and 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/Network West Midlands.
Frequent bus services will also operate from the airport to Coleshill Parkway railway station on the Birmingham - Leicester railway line when it opens in early 2007. This link will improve access to the East Midlands as well as providing further links to North Warwickshire and South-east Staffordshire.
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), with other various Warwickshire County Council funded services such as the 757 and 777 operating from here.
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:
★ The Birmingham Canal Navigations network, including the BCN Main Line and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
★ The Birmingham and Worcester Canal
★ The Grand Union Canal.
Birmingham has several reservoirs to feed its canals, including:
★ Edgbaston Reservoir
★ Lifford Reservoir
References
1. Renew Street: Birmingham New Street Station Prequalification Questionnaire
2. Network Rail Route Plans 2007: West Midlands Route 17
3. ReNew Street
4. ''Planning approval given to Midland Metro Birmingham city centre extension'' - Government News Network, 9 June 2005 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
5. ''Metro plans derailed for another two years'' - Birmingham Mail, Oct 26 2006 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
6. ''£322m needed for Metro extension'' - BBC News, 22 April 2006 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
7. ''Underground idea for Birmingham'' - BBC News, 14 June, 2003 (Accessed August 4, 2007)
8. ''Study on Brum underground'' - icBirmingham, Sep 15 2004 (Retrieved August 4, 2007)
9. Centro: Birmingham City Centre Underground Study
10. '' Council support for Midland Metro expansion follows outcome of Birmingham underground study'' - Centro, 25-Oct-05 (Retrieved August 4 2007)
11. Centro: Bus Services
12. CentralConnect (under the Zaksbuses URL)
13. Choice Travel Services
14. ''National Express moves HQ to Brum'' - Birmingham Mail, Jul 26 2007 (Retrieved August 4 2007)
15. Bus and Coach: Birmingham's coach station saga
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