Final LTP March 2006

The West Midlands lies at the heart of both the national rail and road networks.  This location and the presence of an international airport means that there is a range of demands for international, national and regional journeys that must be accommodated alongside local trips.  The result is severe pressure on local and national rail services as well as on local and strategic roads.

The Metropolitan Authorities have a proven track record of working with the Highways Agency (HA) to ensure that national and local needs are met in a way that minimises the impacts of traffic on each network.  We have integrated our MATTISSE system with the National Traffic Control Centre at Quinton.  We are working with the HA on the Roads Information Framework (RIF) initiative and have contributed to one of the demonstrator projects that form the first part of the long term RIF programme.  Our Chief Engineers and Planning Officers Group (CEPOG) is represented on the Midlands Motorway Box Route Management Strategy Board and the HA is represented on CEPOG and its sub-groups.

Birmingham New Street station is the hub of most local services and the national rail network.  Its daily passenger flows, excluding through-passengers, make it the busiest station outside London.  It currently has passenger capacity problems during busy periods.  We are working with the Dft (Rail) to develop local and regional services, which offer sustainable travel in our Area, and on a Major Scheme to turn New Street Station into a Gateway that is worthy of the country’s second city and which fully meets the needs of local people and long-distance travellers.

Birmingham is also a centre for scheduled inter-city coach services, with terminus and interchange facilities at Digbeth coach station (soon to be refurbished by the owner in partnership with the City Council).   We recognise the importance of coach services, which widen choice and often provide low-cost, longer-distance journeys which is especially important for people with limited incomes.  Birmingham's popularity as a shopping and leisure centre also attracts non-scheduled coaches.  Issues such as coach parking are routinely reviewed and discussed with operators.  A number of scheduled coach services also run from other principal centres, particularly Coventry and Wolverhampton.  In such instances, operators tend to use bus stations or on street facilities.

Birmingham International Airport caters for the needs of even longer-distance travellers, offering flights to domestic, European and other international destinations.

The airport is served by Birmingham International Station on the recently improved West Coast Main Line with direct inter-regional services to and from Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester and the south coast, as well as local services to and from Birmingham New Street, Coventry, Northampton, Rugby, Walsall and Wolverhampton.  It also has regular scheduled inter-regional coach services and is close to the M42 and M6 motorways.  The newly introduced Active Traffic Management on the adjoining section of the M42 will help the Airport's surface access.