Lancashire four universities: Lancaster University, the University of Central Lancashire, Edge Hill University and the Lancaster campus of the University of Cumbria. Seven colleges offer higher education courses. The Lancashire economy relies strongly on the M6 motorway which runs from north to south, past Lancaster and Preston. The M55 connects Preston to Blackpool and is 11.5 miles (18.3 km) long. The M65 motorway from Colne, connects Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn to Preston. The M61 from Preston via Chorley and the M66 starting inside the county boundary near Edenfield, provide links between Lancashire and Manchester] and the trans-Pennine M62. The M58 crosses the
Sale, Greater Manchester Road in Altrincham, from where trains run to Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport and Chester. Bus routes operated by various companies provide services to Manchester and to Altrincham. The A56 road runs between Chester and North Yorkshire via Sale, Manchester, and Burnley, and the M60 motorway – which encircles Manchester – can be accessed via junction 7, just to the north of Sale. The M56 and M62 motorways are about away, and the M6 motorway, which runs between Warwickshire and Gretna, is about to the west. Manchester Airport, the busiest airport in the UK outside the London area, is to the south.