TheIndian city ofThiruvananthapuram has a well-developedtransport infrastructure. The city and its suburbs may be traversed using road and rail. Within the city, city buses, taxis andauto rickshaws provide mobility. Scooters and motorcycles are the favored means of personal transport. Ola, Uber and other taxi services operate there.
National Highway 66 (old NH 47) passes through the city. Thiruvananthapuram can be accessed from the North South CorridorNational Highway 44, viaNH 544 (old NH-47) atSalem, and atKochi via NH 66. It connects southern cities such asKollam,Kochi,Thrissur,Palakkad,Coimbatore and Salem.
From the south NH 66 atKanyakumari provides the North South Corridor (NH 44). It passes throughNagercoil.[1]
The city is connected by state highways such asSH 1,SH 2 andSH 45. TheMain Central Road (MC Road) is the arterial State Highway in Kerala. It starts from National Highway NH 47 atKesavadasapuram in the city. It connectsAngamaly throughKottayam with the capital city.
Mahatma Gandhi road is the major multi-lane arterial road which starts fromEast Fort (Kizhakke kotta) and ends near theLMS Church in the Museum road. The main wholesale business market of the city,Chalai Bazaar,Kerala Government Secretariat,Kerala University,University Stadium etc. are along this road. Another important road is the Kowdiar road, also known as the Royal Road, as it leads toKowdiar Palace. TheKerala Raj Bhavan is also situated in this road.
The exponential growth of service and IT-based sectors coupled with its prominence as the state capital and tourist center has strained transport infrastructure. Mitigating projects[2] include the construction offlyovers[3] andunderpasses.[4] The first phase includes 42 km of six-lane and four-lane dual carriage ways.[5] Although road construction is of a high standard, with appropriate marking and signage; a majority of Tier-II roads remain too narrow for the levels of traffic using them.
The Central City Bus Terminal is located atEast Fort (Kizhakke kotta), nearPadmanabha Swamy temple. Intra-city public transport is dominated by the state-ownedKSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation). Private bus services are also available within the corporation limits. KSRTC city services operate from six depots: City depot, Vikas Bhavan,Peroorkada,Pappanamcode,Kaniyapuram andVellanad. These services were revamped in 2005 with the introduction of modern buses and electronic ticketing.
KSRTC operates services of various classes like ordinary/Ananthapuri, City Fast, and Fast Passenger in the city. KSRTC'sCity Circular, City Shuttle and City Radial services are operated throughout theThiruvananthapuram Metropolitan Area, connecting all the major outskirts of the city.
TheCentral bus station is located 1 km away from East Fort atThampanoor, opposite toThiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station. The terminal connects Thiruvananthapuram to the other parts of Kerala as well as to other states.
TheCentral railway station is located at Thampanoor, 8 km from the airport. Six railway stations operate within city limits, includingThiruvananthapuram central station and seven stations that serve the metropolitan area.Thiruvananthapuram Pettah,Thiruvananthapuram North railway station,Kazhakoottam andVeli Railway Stations are located towards the north andThiruvananthapuram South railway station to the south within the city limits.[6]Kaniyapuram, Murukkumpuzha,Perunguzhi,Chirayinkeezhu,Kadakkavur towards north andBalaramapuram andNeyyattinkara railway stations towards south serves the metropolitan area.
The city is connected by rail to almost all the major cities likeDelhi,Mumbai,Chennai,Bengaluru,Hyderabad,Pune,Madurai,Coimbatore,Trichy etc. on daily basis, while cities likeAmritsar,Chandigarh,Dehradun,Ahmedabad,Kanpur,Jammu,Dibrugarh,Lucknow,Bilaspur,Indore,Howrah andGuwahati on weekly/bi/tri weekly basis.Thiruvananthapuram North railway station is a satellite station developed to ease the congestion atThiruvananthapuram Central.[7] Thiruvananthapuram is the first major South Indian city on the longest train route towards North in India,Kanyakumari toDibrugarh.[8]
There is also a proposal to convertThiruvananthapuram South railway station into a second satellite terminal station for Thiruvananthapuram Central with more pit lines and a maintenance yard.
Thiruvananthapuram International Airport offers direct flights to theMiddle East,Singapore,Malaysia,Maldives andSri Lanka.[9]
The airport is approximately 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) due west from thecity center.[10] Apart from scheduled flights, many chartered flights from Europe operate during tourist season (around December).
Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is the southernmost airport in India and the closest to neighboring countries such asSri Lanka and Maldives.
India's first deep water Transshipment terminalVizhinjam International Seaport Thiruvananthapuram is located in Thiruvananthapuram. The natural sea depth facilitates the maintenance of deep draft with limited dredging. It is one of the deepest ports in India. It is in close proximity to the international shipping lanes between Europe and the Far East.[11][12]
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