M40 motorway

The M40 motorway is the second motorway in the British transport network to connect London to Birmingham. The first part of the motorway was built in the 1960s and connected London to Oxford. It was not until 1990 that the second section, linking Oxford to Birmingham, was constructed.

The fact that the M40 led from London to Oxford and the M11 from London to Cambridge led to a famous sketch in one episode of the BBC's sitcom Yes, Minister. Jim Hacker, a Government minister and a lead character in the show, pondered why Britain had fast motorways to these ancient university towns but not to important seaports such as Dover and Felixstowe. Sir Humphrey Appleby, his Permanent Private Secretary, explained that the motorway network had been designed by civil servants, all of whom had been educated at one university or the other.

TODO : Would be great if all motorway pages had the same level of junction detail as the M11 and M6.

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom
• Transportation in the United Kingdom
• British Road Numbering Scheme