Roads Several major
motorways run through Warwickshire; these are: • The
M40 motorway, which connects
London to
Birmingham, runs through the centre of the county; it serves Leamington Spa, Warwick and Stratford. • The
M6 motorway, which connects
North West England and the West Midlands to the
M1 motorway (and then on to London), runs through the north of Warwickshire; it serves Rugby, Nuneaton and Bedworth on its way to Birmingham. • The
M69 Coventry to Leicester motorway serves Nuneaton. • Other motorways pass briefly through Warwickshire including the
M45 (a short spur south of Rugby connecting to the M1), the southern end of the
M6 Toll and the
M42; it passes through the county at several points. Other major trunk routes in Warwickshire include: •
A45 takes a route through Birmingham, Coventry and Rugby, then east into Northamptonshire •
A46 connects the M40 to the M6 via Warwick, Kenilworth and Coventry •
A452 Leamington to Birmingham route •
A5 passes through
Atherstone and then east of Nuneaton, and then east of Rugby, it marks the county boundary with Leicestershire. • A444 goes through Nuneaton and Bedworth.
Railway Main line routes Two main railway lines pass through Warwickshire: • The
Chiltern Main Line takes the former
Great Western Railway route from
London Marylebone to . It passes through the centre of Warwickshire on a route similar to the M40 motorway and has stations at , , , and . Services are provided by
Chiltern Railways and
West Midlands Trains (Birmingham to Leamington only). There are also two branches off the Chiltern line: the
Leamington to Coventry and
Leamington-Stratford lines. • The
West Coast Main Line (WCML) runs through Warwickshire. At , the WCML splits into two parts: one runs west through to
Coventry and
Birmingham, and the other the
Trent Valley Line runs north-west towards , North West England and
Scotland. This section has stations at , and (northbound services only). There is one branch off the WCML from
Nuneaton to Coventry, with there are stations at , and .
Other lines Other railway lines in Warwickshire include: • Birmingham-Nuneaton section of the
Birmingham to Peterborough Line, which continues east of Nuneaton towards
Leicester and
Peterborough. Nuneaton has direct services to Birmingham and Leicester on this line; there are two intermediate stations at and
Coleshill in the extreme north-west of the county. •
North Warwickshire Line from Birmingham to . This line used to continue southwards to
Cheltenham, but is now a dead-end branch. There is an intermediate station on this line at and at several small villages. Stratford also has direct rail services to London via the branch line to Warwick. Between 1965 and 2018, the only major town in Warwickshire without a station was
Kenilworth. The Leamington to Coventry line passes through the town, but the station was closed as part of the
Beeching cuts.
Kenilworth railway station was rebuilt and opened in April 2018, with an hourly service to Coventry and to Leamington provided by
West Midlands Trains.
High Speed 2 The new
High Speed 2 (HS2) line is a long-distance route that is being constructed through Warwickshire; however, there will be no stations in the county. It will pass south of
Southam, then between Kenilworth and Coventry, before running into the West Midlands towards Birmingham.
Air Coventry Airport is located in the Warwickshire village of
Baginton.
Canals and waterways Canals and navigable waterways in Warwickshire include: • The
Coventry Canal, which runs through the north of the county from
Coventry through
Bedworth,
Nuneaton,
Atherstone and
Polesworth, and then onwards to
Tamworth. • The
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal passes briefly through Warwickshire from a junction with the Coventry Canal at
Bedworth. • The
Oxford Canal runs from near Coventry, then eastwards around Rugby and through the rural south of the county towards
Oxford. • The
Grand Union Canal runs through Leamington and Warwick, then onwards to Birmingham. • The restored
Saltisford Canal Arm is close to the centre of Warwick and is now a short branch of the Grand Union Canal. The arm is the remains of the original terminus of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal; it dates back to 1799. • The
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal runs from the Grand Union west of Warwick to Stratford, where it joins the Avon. • The
River Avon runs through Warwickshire on a south-west to north-east axis, running through Stratford, Warwick and Rugby. It is navigable for from the
River Severn at
Tewkesbury to
Alveston weir just east of Stratford-upon-Avon, making it the only navigable river in Warwickshire. There have been proposals to extend the Avon navigation to Warwick. However, as of 2019, these plans look unlikely to proceed. ==Media==