As befits Southampton’s role as a major port, the city has good transport links with the rest of the country. The M27 motorway, linking places along the south coast of England, runs just to the north of the city. The M3 motorway links the city to London and also, by linking to the A34 road at Winchester with the Midlands and North. The M271 motorway links the M27 with the Western Docks and city centre.

Southampton is also well served by the rail network, used by both freight services to and from the docks, and passenger services as part of the national rail system. The main station in the city is Southampton Central. Routes run eastwards to Portsmouth and Brighton, north-east to Winchester and London, north to Reading, Birmingham and beyond, north-west to Salisbury and Bristol and west to Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth. Southampton Coach Station was refurbished recently, and the range and frequency of services offered by the National Express Group increased to make use of the new facilities.

Southampton Airport is a regional airport located in the town of Eastleigh, just north of Southampton. It is connected to the city by a frequent rail service, and hosts flights to UK and near European destinations.

Whilst Southampton is no longer the base for any cross-channel ferries, it is the terminus for three internal ferry services, all of which operate from terminals at Town Quay. Two of these, a car ferry service and a fast catamaran passenger ferry service, provide links to Cowes on the Isle of Wight and are operated by Red Funnel. The third ferry is the Hythe Ferry, providing a passenger service to the town of Hythe on the other side of Southampton Water. Town Quay is linked to Southampton Central station by a free bus service.

Local transport is largely road based, with significant peak hour congestion in the city. The main bus operators are First, Solent Blue Line (who also operate the BlueStar service) and Uni-link, although other operators also run services into the city, including Stagecoach and Wilts and Dorset. However, local train services do operate in the central, Southern and Eastern sections of the city, serving Swaythling, St. Denys, Millbrook, Redbridge, Bitterne, Sholing and Woolston.

The Uni-link bus service was commissioned by the University of Southampton to provide access to students who are studying at the university to all parts of the city. The buses run from early in the morning to midnight meeting demands of students who wish to get to the city during the day and lesiure places in the evening such as Leisure World and West-Quay. The University includes payment for the service in the first-year students’ compulsory accommodation fees, a policy which proved controversial when first introduced.