Transport in Preston Transport in Preston Preston is a city in Lancashire, around North-west of Manchester. The Preston By-pass was the first part of the M6 Motorway, the longest motorway in the country. It was made a motorway in 1958, being the first motorway in the United Kingdom. It is now the stretch between Junction 29 (A6 and M65, Bamber Bridge) and Junction 1 of the M55 (A6 Preston North), with four intermediate junctions – J30, J31, J31A and J32. The other motorway within the city is the M55 (Preston - Blackpool), and it is also served by the M65 (Preston - East
Accrington railway station formerly a major junction on the ELR, with the line to Bury and Salford diverging southwards from that towards Blackburn and Preston at the western end of the station, just before the impressive viaduct that carries the line over the town centre. This was, for many years, a busy commuter route carrying regular trains from Skipton and Colne to Manchester Victoria, but it fell victim to the Beeching Axe in the sixties and closed to passengers on 5 December 1966. Few traces of this route remain today, the formation through the town (including part of the notorious 1 in 40