M6 motorway from the beginning of A14 in Catthorpe near Rugby in central England, passes between Coventry, Bedworth and Nuneaton, through Birmingham, Walsall and Stafford and near the smaller cities of Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent. The motorway has major junctions with the M55 at Junction 32, north of Preston ending just before Blackpool, the M65 at Junction 29, south of Preston, towards Blackburn and then Burnley, the M56 and M62 at Warrington, giving access to Chester, Manchester and Liverpool. The M6 then heads north past Wigan, Preston and Lancaster. After the latter two cities it passes through Cumbria with some parts very close
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