Transport in Tamil Nadu

Life in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu, a state in South India, has a developed, dense, and modern transportation infrastructure, encompassing both public and private transport. Its capital city Chennai is well-connected by land, sea, and air and serves as a major hub for entry into South India.

Road

Map indicating Highways network of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has an extensive road network covering about 2.71 lakh km as of 2023 with a road density of 2,084.71 kilometres (1,295.38 mi) per 1000 km2 which is higher than the national average of 1,926.02 kilometres (1,196.77 mi) per 1000 km2.[1] The Highways Department (HD) of the state was established in April 1946 and was later renamed as Highways Department on 30 October 2008.[2] The agency is primarily responsible for construction and maintenance of national highways, state highways, major district roads and other roads in the state. It operates through eleven wings with 120 divisions and 450 subdivisions.[3] The agency maintains 73,187 kilometres (45,476 mi) of highways in the state.[4]

Road length in TN[4]
Type NH SH MDR ODR OR Total
Length (km) 6,805 12,291 12,034 42,057 197,542 271,000

National highways

Kathipara flyover Cloverleaf interchange in Chennai

The ‘’National Highways Wing’’ of the highways department of Tamil Nadu was established in 1971 to look after the works of improving, maintaining and renewing of National Highways laid down by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).[5] There are 48 national highways of length 6,805 kilometres (4,228 mi) in the state.[6]

National Highway length in Tamil Nadu[4]
Lanes Two Four Six Eight Total
Length (km) 3,814 2,649 333 9 6,805

State highways

Roads which connect district headquarters, important towns and national highways in the state are classified as state highways. Construction and maintenance wing of the highways department is responsible for the construction, maintenance of the state highways. The wing has eight circles namely Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Tiruppur and Villupuram.[7]

State Highway length in Tamil Nadu[4]
Lanes One Intermediate Two Four Six Total
Length (km) 39 366 10,170 1,466 250 12,291

Other Roads

Other roads include major district roads (MDR), other district roads (ODR), rural & sugarcane roads and special roads such as East Coast Road, IT Expressway, Ennore-Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP), Chennai Port – Maduravoyal Expressway and Outer Ring Road Project. These roads provide linkage between various towns and centers within districts and connectivity to respective district and taluk headquarters.

Vehicle transport

As of 2020, Tamil Nadu had 32.1 million registered vehicles.[8]

Registered vehicle count[8]
Year 2007 2010 2015 2020
Count (mn) 10.98 14.06 22.51 32.1

Public transport

An air conditioned bus operated by SETC

As of 2020, 32,598 buses are operated with the state transport units operating 20,946 buses along with 7,596 private buses and 4,056 mini buses.[9] Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) run by Government of Tamil Nadu is the primary public transport bus operator in the state. It was established in 1947 when private buses operating in Madras presidency were nationalized by the government.[9] It operates buses along intra and inter state bus routes, as well as city routes. There are eight divisions of TNSTC including Metropolitan Transport Corporation in Chennai and State Express Transport Corporation.[9] State Express Transport Corporation Limited (SETC), established in 1980, runs long-distance express services exceeding 250 km and above. It links important cities and other historical, religious and commercial towns, and adjoining states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry. SETC operates various classes of services such as semi-deluxe, ultra-deluxe and air-conditioned with advance booking and reservation on all of its routes.[10]

Rail

Chennai Central, one of the major railway stations

The rail network in Tamil Nadu forms a part of Southern Railway of Indian Railways. Southern Railway is headquartered in Chennai and there are four divisions in the state namely Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and Salem.[11] As of 2023, the state had a total railway track length of 5,601 km (3,480 mi) covering a route length of 3,858 km (2,397 mi).[12] There are 532 railway stations in the state with Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore Junction and Madurai Junction being the top revenue earning stations.[13][14] Indian railways also has a coach manufacturing unit at Chennai, electric locomotive sheds at Arakkonam, Erode and Royapuram, diesel locomotive sheds at Erode, Tiruchirappalli and Tondiarpet, Steam locomotive shed at Coonoor along with various maintenance depots. [15][16]

Railway in Tamil Nadu[12]
Route length (km) Track length (km)
Broad Gauge Metre Gauge Total Broad Gauge Metre Gauge Total
Electrified Non electrified Total
3,476 336 3,812 46 3,858 5,555 46 5,601

Suburban and MRTS

Chennai MRTS was the first MRTS system in India

Chennai has a well-established suburban railway network operated by Southern railway, which was established in 1928.[17] The Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is an elevated urban mass transit system established in 1995 operating on a single line from Chennai Beach to Velachery.[17]

System Lines Stations Length Opened
Chennai Suburban[18] 3 53 212 km (132 mi) 1928
Chennai MRTS[19] 1 17 19.715 km (12.250 mi) 1995

Metro

Chennai Metro is the only metro system operational in the state
NMR is the only rack railway in India and a World Heritage Site

Chennai Metro is a rapid transit rail system in Chennai which was opened in 2015. As of 2023, the metro system consists of two operational lines operating across 54.1 km (33.6 mi) with 41 stations.[20] Chennai metro system is being expanded with a proposed addition of three more lines and extension of 116.1 km (72.1 mi).[21] Rapid rail projects for Coimbatore and Madurai have been proposed.[22][23]

Line Terminal Opened Length
(km) 		Stations
Blue Line Wimco Nagar Chennai Airport 21 September 2016 32.65 26
Green Line Chennai Central St. Thomas Mount 29 June 2015 22 17
Total 54.65 41

Mountain railway

Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway in Nilgiris district connecting Mettupalayam and Udagamandalam. It was built by the British in 1908 and is operated by the Southern Railways.[24][25] It is the only rack railway in India and operates on its own fleet of steam locomotives between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam.[26] In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Mountain Railways of India[27]

Air

Chennai International Airport is one of the busiest airports in South Asia
Coimbatore International Airport is the second busiest airport in Tamil Nadu

There are three international, one limited international and six domestic or private airports in Tamil Nadu.[28][29] Chennai airport, which is the fourth busiest airport by passenger traffic in India is a major international airport and the main gateway to the state.[30] Other international airports in the state include Coimbatore and Tiruchirapalli while Madurai is a customs airport with limited international flights.[30] Domestic flights are operational to certain airports like Tuticorin and Salem while flights are planned to be introduced to more domestic airports by the UDAN scheme of Government of India.[31]

Area Served Airport Name IATA ICAO Airport Type
Chennai Chennai International Airport MAA VOMM International
Coimbatore Coimbatore International Airport CJB VOCB International
Hosur Hosur Aerodrome VO95 State/Private
Madurai Madurai Airport IXM VOMD Customs
Neyveli Neyveli Airport NVY VONY State/Private
Salem Salem Airport SXV VOSM Domestic
Thanjavur Thanjavur Airport TJV VOTJ Domestic (CE)
Thoothukkudi Tuticorin Airport TCR VOTK Domestic
Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli International Airport TRZ VOTR International
Vellore Vellore Airport VOVR Domestic

The region comes under the purview of the Southern Air Command of the Indian Air Force. The Air Force operates three air bases in the state Sulur, Tambaram and Thanjavur.[32] The Indian Navy operates airbases at Arakkonam, Uchipuli and Chennai.[33][34]

Water

Chennai Port, one of the busiest ports in the east coast of India

Tamil Nadu has 1,076 kilometres (669 mi) long coastline and is the second longest coastline in the country after Gujarat.[35] There are three major ports Chennai, Ennore and Thoothukudi which are managed by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of Government of India.[36] There is an intermediate sea port at Nagapattinam and sixteen other minor ports which are managed by the department of highways and minor ports of Government of Tamil Nadu.[1] Tamil Nadu forms part of both the Eastern Naval Command and Southern Naval Command the Indian Navy which has a major base at Chennai and logistics support base at Thoothukudi.[37][38]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Highway policy (PDF) (Report). Highways Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  2. ^ Highways Department renamed as Highways and Minor Ports Department (PDF) (Report). Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  3. ^ Wings of Highways Department (Report). Highways Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "Tamil Nadu highways, about us". Highways Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  5. ^ "National Highways wing". Highways Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  6. ^ Details of national highways (PDF) (Report). Government of India. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  7. ^ Highways Circle of Highways Department, Tamil Nadu (PDF) (Report). Highways Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Number of registered motor vehicles across Tamil Nadu in India from financial year 2007 to 2020". statista. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  9. ^ a b c Tamil Nadu STUs (PDF) (Report). TNSTC. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  10. ^ History of SETC (PDF) (Report). TNSTC. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Southern Railways, about us". Southern Railway. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  12. ^ a b System map, Southern Railway (PDF) (Report). Southern Railway. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Railways, plan your trip". Tamil Nadu tourism. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  14. ^ List of stations (PDF) (Report). Southern Railway. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  15. ^ "DNA Exclusive: Is It Time for Indian Railways to Tear Up Ageing Tracks and Old Machinery?". Zee Media Corporation. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  16. ^ "Sheds and Workshops". IRFCA. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  17. ^ a b Brief History of the Division (PDF). Chennai Division (Report). Indian Railways—Southern Railways. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  18. ^ List of Stations, Chennai (PDF) (Report). Southern Railway. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  19. ^ "About MRTS". Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  20. ^ "Project status of Chennai Metro". Chennai Metro Rail Limited. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  21. ^ "Metro's second phase to go up to Poonamallee". The Hindu. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  22. ^ Rajkumar, Varun Venkatesan and Surya. "Signal remains red for Coimbatore metro rail project". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  23. ^ Sampath, Nirupa (13 November 2023). "Madurai metro rail will cover 29km with 17 stations in phase 1". DT next. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Nilgirimountain railway". Indian Railways. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  25. ^ "Mountain Railways of India". UNESCO. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  26. ^ Indian Hill Railways: The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (TV). BBC. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  27. ^ "Mountain Railways of India". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 30 April 2006.
  28. ^ "List of Indian Airports (NOCAS)" (PDF). Airports Authority of India. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  29. ^ "List of Indian Airports" (PDF). Airports Authority of India. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  30. ^ a b Traffic Statistics, September 2023 (PDF) (pdf). Airport Authority of India. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  31. ^ Regional Connectivity Scheme (PDF) (Report). Government of India. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  32. ^ "Indian Air Force Commands". Indian Air Force. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  33. ^ "Organisation of Southern Naval Command". Indian Navy. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  34. ^ "ENC Authorities & Units". Indian Navy. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  35. ^ "Centre for Coastal Zone Management and Coastal Shelter Belt". Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  36. ^ Ports of India (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  37. ^ "Basic Organization". Indian Navy. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  38. ^ "Southern naval command". Indian Navy. Retrieved 1 January 2016.

External links

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