Travel

There are many ways to get to the University, the easiest being to take a train from the city centre. Comprehensive directions on how to get to the University may be found on the University website. Directions on how to get to the Conference Park and Lucas House may be found here.

Planes

Information regarding hand-luggage at UK airports

From Birmingham International Airport
The closest airport to the University is Birmingham International.

The airport is well connected to the City of Birmingham. The free 'AirRail' service on the first floor of terminal 1 will take you to Birmingham International train station. From here, catch the train to Birmingham New Street (see below).

Alternatively, taxis may be caught from the taxi rank just outside terminal 2. A black cab will cost you approximately £25-30 and will take around 30-50 minutes (longer during rush hour), depending on destination, traffic and time of day.

From East Midlands Airport
The second closest airport to the University is East Midlands Airport. There are regular low cost flights between here and mainland Europe everyday . Directions for travelling between East Midlands Airport and Birmingham may be found here. It can take around 2-3 hours to get to the airport from Birmingham, depending on train/bus times.

From previous experience we would suggest catching the Derby Airline Shuttle service outside the arrivals building to Derby railway station. Fares are currently priced at £5.40 for a return ticket. From here take the train to Birmingham New Street (CrossCountry service between Derby and Bristol Temple Meads. There are approximately 4 trains an hour.). A Saver Return ticket between Derby and Birmingham New street will cost around £14.00 (depending on time of travel and purchase).

Because of its central location, it is relatively easy to use any of a number of other airports to get to Birmingham. Other nearby airports include Coventry, East Midlands, Cardiff, Manchester and Bristol. It is also possible to use any of the London airports. Please contact us if you need directions on how to get to the University from any of these locations.

Trains

The University of Birmingham is the only university in the country to be serviced by its own train station. Unless travelling long distances (such as from London), there is no need to pre-book tickets - self-service ticket machines can be found at most stations.

Information on UK train timetables may be found here

From Birmingham New Street:
From here catch the London-Midlands service to Longbridge or Redditch. These trains run every 15 minutes between the times of 0600 and 2330. Tickets will cost in the region of £1.70.

From Birmingham International:
From here catch the either the CrossCountry or London-Midlands service to Birmingham New Street.

From Birmingham Moor Street:
From here, walk to Birmingham New Street (approximately 5 minutes ).

London Euston:
There is a regular service between London Euston and Birmingham New Street.

London Marlylebone:
There is a regular service between London Marlyebone and Birmingham Moor Street.

Didcot:
Change at Oxford for the CrossCountry service to Birmingham New Street.

From Continental Europe:
This is a new addition since the last meeting at Birmingham! The Eurostar now terminates at St. Pancras, which is approximately 10 minutes walk from Euston station. Connecting services run from Cologne (Thalys/ICE via Brussels, 7 hours) and Mannheim (ICE via Paris, 8.5 hours).

And Automobiles

The University provides excellent directions for driving to the campus. For the purposes of SatNav, the post code of Lucas House is B15 2RA. Free parking will be available at Lucas House for meeting participants.

The Birmingham Black Cab company is TOA Taxis, and their phone number is 0121 427 8888.