Getting from East Midlands Airport to Birmingham

There is no direct East Midlands Airport to Birmingham train service. In order to travel between these destinations using public transport a combination of the Skylink bus service and the rail service from either Derby or Long Eaton would have to be used. There are two possible ways to use this combination trip. The first option is to take the Skylink Derby bus from East Midlands Airport to Derby Railway station (Stop S1) and from there take the Cross Country Railway service to Birmingham (New Street Station). The alternative is to take the Skylink Nottingham bus service to Long Eaton Railway station and from there to take the Cross Country railway service to Birmingham (New Street Station). Travel time in both cases is between 95-112 minutes.

As there is no direct train service, the cost from East Midlands Airport to Birmingham using public transport, will be a combination of the cost of the bus service from the airport, plus the cost of the rail ticket to Birmingham. The Skylink bus service single adult ticket starts from £3.90 (€4.50), 18s and under travel at half price and children 10 years old and under travel for £1 (€1.15). Tickets can be bought directly from the driver and payment can be made by cash or card. The Cross Country rail service adult single anytime ticket from Derby or Long Eaton to Birmingham starts from £23 (€26.50). Advanced Single Tickets can be purchased from the Cross Country website at a discounted price but there are restrictions to these tickets (please refer to the website).

The available public transport option is not direct. You first have to take a bus to the train station and it requires a considerable amount of time (about 95 minutes) to complete the journey. This is therefore not a convenient way to get from East Midlands Airport to Birmingham, especially if you’ve just gotten off a long flight or are travelling with a lot of luggage or children.