
01Section
The motorway network as a plan
We plan long trips corridor by corridor. Heading north there's the M1 and A1(M); into Scotland, the M6 and M74; west to Wales, the M4; the M40 for the Midlands; and the M5 for the South West. Every one has its known trouble spots, like the M6 round Birmingham, the M25 to the west of Heathrow, or the M5 south of Bristol on a Friday in summer.
So we set departure times with those spots in mind instead of ignoring them. Setting off from London for Manchester at 06:30 is not the same trip as leaving at 08:00; the gap between them comes close to an hour. When you book, we tell you which departure your schedule calls for.
- Departure hour and corridor settled in tandem
- Estimates that allow for familiar pressure points
- Trips longer than three hours get one planned comfort stop












