Editing Northampton (section)

== Transport ==
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| image1    = Bus station frontage Northampton.jpg
| alt1      = North Gate bus station
| caption1  = [[North Gate bus station]]
| image2    = New Northampton station 2015.jpg
| alt2      = Northampton railway station
| caption2  = [[Northampton railway station]]
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Northampton is served by junctions 15, 15a and 16 of the M1 motorway which connects the town with London at its most southern point and Leeds at its most northern. Both the [[A45 road|A45]] and [[A43 road|A43]] link Northampton with the other major towns in Northamptonshire and beyond, and can be accessed by a partially completed [[ring road]]. The [[A14 road (England)|A14]] is close by to the north of Northampton, providing links to [[East Anglia]] and a secondary route to the areas of the [[Midlands]] which are situated to the north of the town.

[[Northampton railway station]] is on the [[Northampton Loop Line|Northampton Loop]] of the West Coast Main Line, and has services southbound to [[Euston railway station|London Euston]] and northbound to [[Birmingham New Street railway station|Birmingham]] and [[Crewe railway station|Crewe]] provided by [[West Midlands Trains]]. [[Avanti West Coast]] also provide two daily services to London, although these are set-down only.

[[Sywell Aerodrome]] is the nearest airfield which has recently been upgraded with a {{convert|1000|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} concrete runway, however it only caters for private flying, flight training and corporate flights.<ref name="Sywell">[http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/Controversial-runway-to-open-at.5077789.jp Sywell Aerodrome – new concrete runway to open]. Northamptonchron.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2011.</ref> For international links, the [[East Midlands Airport]] and [[Luton Airport]] are quickly accessible by the M1 around {{convert|44|mi}} north-west and {{convert|33|mi}} south-east, respectively; [[Birmingham Airport]] is also around {{convert|39|mi}} to the north-west of the town via the M1 and [[M6 motorway|M6]] motorways, as well as by train.

In the town, buses are mainly operated by [[Stagecoach Midlands]] from the North Gate bus station with some services from [[Uno (bus company)|Uno]] but it was announced in November 2023 that routes operated by [[Uno (bus company)|Uno]] will be taken over by Stagecoach from March 2024. Stagecoach serves areas within the town and also provides travel to outlying villages and towns within the county, making links to [[Corby]], Daventry, [[Kettering]], [[Rushden]] and Wellingborough. They also go as far afield as [[Bedford]], Leicester, [[Market Harborough]], Milton Keynes, Peterborough and [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]]. Uno serve the university and Kingsthorpe area as well as Rectory Farm, Abington and Sixfields. [[National Express Coaches|National Express]] also operates in Northampton, covering routes between major towns and cities in the United Kingdom. Buses used to be operated by [[Northampton Corporation Transport]] and then, since the privatization of buses in the 1980s. [[FirstGroup]] operated them until the 2010s and<ref>{{cite book |last=evans |first=john |title=northampton buses |publisher=[[amberly]] |year=2018 |isbn=9781445673561 |edition=1st}}</ref> [[Arriva]] operate 2 services around the town<ref>{{cite web |title=bustimes.org |url=https://bustimes.org/services/33-milton-keynes-northampton |website=bustimes|date=19 February 2025 }}</ref> (33 and 33x)

Northampton is the terminus of an arm of the [[Grand Union Canal]], which connects to the [[River Nene]] and from that to the [[River Great Ouse]] and the [[North Sea]]. No longer used for freight, the waterway is now popular with anglers and [[narrowboat]]ers. Principal outlying villages on the canal include [[Gayton, Northamptonshire|Gayton]], [[Blisworth]], [[Braunston]] and [[Stoke Bruerne]].

Northampton once had a [[Northampton Street Tramways|horse-drawn tramway]] which opened in 1881. The system was extended in stages and taken over by the council in 1897 and named [[Northampton Corporation Tramways]]. It was electrified in 1904, but closed in 1934 mainly as a result of competition from motor buses which were introduced in 1929. Two of the original tram shelters are preserved: one at the Racecourse park and another in Kingsthorpe opposite the Cock Hotel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trams |url=http://cottonites.co.uk/transport.htm |access-date=7 October 2009 |publisher=Far Cotton History Group}}</ref>