Bournemouth Urban Area - Transport

Transport

The conurbation is served by a number of main roads. The M27 motorway, which feeds the M3 to London, ends on the eastern edge of the New Forest near Southampton, but extends west as the A31 trunk road. The A31 serves as a bypass for the conurbation, north of Poole and Bournemouth but south of many of the satellite towns, and is dual carriageway for most of its length. To the west the A31 merges with the A35 at Bere Regis where they continue west to Dorchester and Exeter. The A35 runs through the centres of the main towns in the conurbation. The A338 is the main arterial route in Bournemouth, running as a dual carriageway from Bournemouth town centre to the A31, and as a single carriageway north to Salisbury. The A350 is Poole town centre's main artery, running north along Holes Bay to the A35, and as a single carriageway to Bath and Bristol. The A337 runs east to Lymington and the New Forest.

The conurbation is served by the South Western Main Line which runs from London to Weymouth via Winchester, Southampton and Dorchester. There are stations at New Milton, Hinton Admiral, Christchurch, Pokesdown, Bournemouth, Branksome, Parkstone, Poole, Hamworthy and Holton Heath. The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway to Bath had its southern terminus here, until its closure in the Beeching Axe.

Bournemouth Airport is the conurbations closest airport and lies 5 miles north of the town centre. The airport is currently undertaking a £45million redevelopment and serves over 50 destinations worldwide; Ryanair, Thomson Airways and Palmair operate frequent services. The Bournemouth Airport Shuttle Bus serves the airport from Bournemouth Square.