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Travel

Time to Birmingham by train

Approximate times.

From Birmingham International Airport

Get the train, it is one stop and takes 10 to 15 minutes, which is by far the fastest way into the city. A single costs from £2 upwards, depending on the time of day.

The airport station is called Birmingham International. The city centre station is called Birmingham New Street. Buy the ticket from the train station before you get on-board or you risk being fined or unable to exit the station on arrival.

There are also coaches as well as local buses for those who like the scenic view.

From London Stansted Airport

Coach

http://www.nationalexpress.com/coacheslanding.aspx

National Express run a direct coach service from Stansted Airport to Birmingham. It may be the only option if you arrive late at night and the trains have already stopped. It is cheaper than the train but less comfortable.

A direct coach takes from 3hrs 35min. Indirect coach via London will take 4-5 hours. There is nothing for sale on board. Buy your snacks and drinks at Stansted beforehand. You are not allowed to take hot food on board.

It is cheaper to book online in advance, and print out your ticket. A return will cost approximately £40 if booked in advance. Special offers happen from time to time.

There are discounts for students and others but requires buying a card which is useless if you are not going to the UK again any time soon.

The destination is called "Birmingham Coach Station" but is often referred to as "Digbeth" or "Birmingham Digbeth".

Train

For train times and fairs look at: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Direct

The direct train from Stansted to Birmingham is operated by Cross Country Trains http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/

It takes around 3 hours 20 minutes. The stations you want to book for are:

From: Stansted Airport To: Birmingham New Street

Because the direct trains are not technically the fastest route, if your order tickets from a website, you sometimes have to click "advanced search" and/or "show only direct trains" to show the direct trains.

Cost of train tickets in the UK seems entirely random. An advanced single bought over the web costs from £16 upwards. An off-peak return bought on the day costs around £50.

The direct train is small and there is likely to be nothing for sale on board. Buy your snacks and drinks at Stansted beforehand. There is also likely to be no first class carriage, so check beforehand if you are thinking of travelling first class.

Non-direct

Another route is to catch a train from Stansted Airport to London and then get the underground, then get a train from London Euston to Birmingham New Street. This works out a little quicker than the direct train, however it may be more expensive. However, if you want to combine a half-day of site-seeing in London then it could work out for you.

You can order tickets from this Web site.

There are two basic options to get to Birmingham New Street rail station from Stansted (3.5 hours), or you can do a 3-train journey as follows (2.75 hours) :

  1. Stansted -> Tottenham Hale (train)

  2. Tottenham Hale -> Euston (tube)

  3. Euston -> Birmingham New Street (train)

Slower but maybe cheaper is:

Stansted > London Tube to London Marylebone London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill or Birmingham Moor Street

Where do I buy tickets for the train?

You can either buy them online, or from Stansted Airport train station. They should be able to accept common cards with the VISA or MasterCard logo. Note that tickets can be significantly cheaper if bought in advance.

From London Heathrow

Coach

Direct coach from London Heathrow to Birmingham takes 3hrs 55min. Indirect coaches via London take 4-5 hours.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/coacheslanding.aspx

It is cheaper than the train but less comfortable.

There is nothing for sale on board. Buy your snacks and drinks at Heathrow beforehand. You are not allowed to take hot food on board.

It is cheaper to book online in advance, and print out your ticket. A return will cost approximately £40 if booked in advance. Special offers happen from time to time.

There are discounts for students and others but requires buying a card which is useless if you are not going to the UK again any time soon.

The destination is called "Birmingham Coach Station" but is often referred to as "Digbeth" or "Birmingham Digbeth".

Trains

See notes above under London Stansted for general advice.

There are two ways of getting from Heathrow to Birmingham.

One route is Heathrow > Reading > Birmingham.

Another route is:

Heathrow > London Euston > Birmingham

or

Heathrow > London Marylebone > Birmingham

Getting from Heathrow to London can be done by Heathrow Express which is the faster way, then a short go on the tube. Or you can take the tube all the way, which is the cheap and slower way.

The fast way is around 2.30 hours, and will cost at least £55 return. Obviously going by tube between Heathrow and London will reduce that because you are only buying London to Birmingham on the train.

From New Street Station

The venue is a short walk from Birmingham New Street. Here is a map with directions:

pedestrian_route_map.png

The red X marks the BCU Conservatoire building where the conference is being held, and the routes are marked by a pale transparent blue line. There are three routes as there are three possible pedestrian exits from New Street station.

The CBSO Centre

Some of the tutorials on Sunday are held in the CBSO centre. It's a short few minutes walk from the Conservatoire, and if you're going to the Sunday morning tutorial, you are welcome to go there first and register at lunchtime. Indeed, if you are in the ETAP or Premier Inn, it's recommended.

Travel (last edited 2010-02-10 21:58:31 by Zeth)