The company wanted to ensure that the canal would be part of a larger network, once completed, that would carry trade to London.

On 14 February 1844, the congestion was significantly reduced by the simultaneous opening of the Tame Valley Canal, which bypassed the Birmingham Canal Navigations main line, and an extension of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal from Bordesley Junction to Salford Junction, enabling boats to avoid ascending through the eleven locks of the Aston flight and then descending through the six locks of the Ashted flight on the Digbeth Branch.

[4][5] From the junction, the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal heads to the south-west and ascends through the 13 Farmers Bridge locks, rising 81 feet (25 m) to reach Farmers Bridge Junction, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) away.

To the north-east, it descends through the eleven locks of the Aston flight, to reach Salford junction, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) away, where it is joined by the Tame Valley Canal and the Grand Union Canal.

The Digbeth Branch heads south-east, and is just 0.9 miles (1.4 km) long.