page_title: Coventry
section_title: Transport
hierarchical_section_title: Coventry / Economy / Transport
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo taken on 19 November 2006 of the most south-eastern part of Coventry Canal in the Canal Basin, Coventry, England
context_page_description: Coventry is a city, administrative centre and metropolitan borough in England and the United Kingdom. It is built on the River Sherbourne, which remains largely hidden by infrastructure, although it can be seen by the canal. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages; since then it has been one of the most important and largest cities of the country. The conurbation consists of the Coventry and Bedworth Urban Area, being the 20th largest in the country; the city is governed by Coventry City Council.
  Historically part of Warwickshire, at the 2011 census Coventry had a population of 316,915, making it the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest city in the West Midlands region, after Birmingham, and is separated from the West Midlands conurbation by the Meriden Gap.
  Coventry is 19 miles east-southeast of Birmingham, 25 miles southwest of Leicester, 11 miles north of Warwick and 94 miles northwest of London.
context_section_description: Coventry is near the M6, M69, M1, M45 and M40 motorways.
  The M45, which is situated a few miles to the south-east of the city, was opened in 1959 as a spur to the original section of the M1 motorway, which linked London with the midlands. This was in effect the first motorway to serve Coventry, as the section of the M6 north of the city did not open until 1971, and the M69 between Coventry and Leicester opened five years after that. The M40, which is connected to the city via the A46, is more than 10 miles (16 kilometres) south of the city centre, south of Warwick, and gives the city's residents an alternate dual carriageway and motorway route to London.
  It is served by the A45 and A46 dual carriageways. The A45 originally passed through the centre of the city, but was re-routed in the 1930s on the completion of the Coventry Southern Bypass, with west-bound traffic heading in the direction of Birmingham and east-bound traffic in the direction of Northampton. The A46 was re-routed to the east of the city in 1989 on the completion of the Coventry Eastern Bypass, which directly leads to the M6/M69 interchange. To the south, it gives a direct link to the M40, making use of the existing Warwick and Kenilworth Bypasses.
  Coventry has an inner ring road which was completed in the early 1970s and Phoenix Way, a dual-carriageway running north–south completed in 1995, linking the city centre with the M6 motorway.
  Coventry railway station is served by the West Coast Main Line, with services provide by Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and West Midlands Trains. It has rail services between London and Birmingham (and additional towns). It is also served by railway lines to Nuneaton via Bedworth. There is a line linking it to Leamington Spa and onwards to the south coast. Coventry has three suburban railway stations at Coventry Arena, Canley and Tile Hill. Coventry Arena, serving the north of city on the Coventry to Nuneaton Line, opened in January 2016 primarily for the Ricoh Arena where football, rugby matches and concerts usually take place. CrossCountry services provide networks to the utmost south of England (Southampton and Bournemouth) and north England (Manchester), and London Northwestern provides services to Liverpool, and Rugeley in addition to London, and other small towns in the north and south. Avanti West Coast operate faster journeys to London, further cities in the West Midlands, north west England (Preston, Carlisle), and Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh).
  Bus operators in Coventry include National Express Coventry, Travel de Courcey, Arriva Midlands and Stagecoach in Warwickshire. Pool Meadow bus station is the main bus and coach interchange in the city centre. Coventry has a single Park and Ride service from War Memorial Park served by Stagecoach in Warwickshire. From Pool Meadow bus station, there are national coach links to major towns and cities, seaside towns, ferry ports and events with National Express, with four stands (A, B,C and D).
  A light rail system for Coventry, known as Coventry Very Light Rail is proposed to be operational by 2024.
  The nearest major airports are Birmingham Airport, some 11 miles (18 km) to the west of the city and Coventry Airport in Baginton, located 5 miles (8 km) south of the city centre.
  The Coventry Canal terminates near the city centre at Coventry Canal Basin and is navigable for 38 miles (61 km) to Fradley Junction in Staffordshire.
caption: Coventry Canal Basin
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