The Department for Transport is the government institute overseeing transport in England. Since the second half of the 20th century, major road-building programmes were undertaken to facilitate growth in automobile ownership. There are several motorways in England, one of the most important trunk roads is the A1 Great North Road, stretching across the country from London to Newcastle.[88] The longest motorway in England is the M6, stretching from Rugby to the North West up to the Anglo-Scottish border.[88] There are other major roads; the M1 from London to Leeds, the M25 which encircles London, the M60 which encircles Manchester, the M4 from London to South Wales, the M62 from Liverpool to Manchester and East Yorkshire and the M5 from Birmingham to Bristol and the South West.[88] Bus transport across the country is common, major companies include National Express, Arriva and Go-Ahead Group. The red double-decker buses in London have become a symbol of England. There is a rapid rail network in two English cities; the London Underground and the Tyne and Wear Metro, the latter in Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland.[89] There are tram networks, such as; Blackpool, Manchester Metrolink, Sheffield Supertram and Midland Metro.[89]
Rail transport in England is the oldest in the world, with the system originating there in 1825. Much of Britain's 16,116 kilometres (10,014 mi) of rail network lies in England, covering the country extensively. These lines are mostly single, double or quadruple track, though there are narrow gauge lines. There is rail transport access to France and Belgium through an undersea rail link, the Channel Tunnel which was completed in 1994. There is a wealth of air transport facilities in England connected the public to numerous international locations, the largest airport is London Heathrow Airport which in terms of passenger volume in the busiest in Europe and one of busiest in the world.[90] Other large airports include Manchester Airport, London Stansted Airport, Luton Airport and Birmingham International Airport.[90] By sea there is ferry transport, both for internal and external trips, some of the most common links are to Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium.[91] Travel by waterways such as rivers, canals, docks is common with around 7,100 km (4,400 mi) of navigable waterways in England, half of which is owned by British Waterways.[91] The Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at the Port of Tilbury, one of the three major ports in Britain.[91]
