Transport in Viluppuram
The town of Viluppuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is well connected by both rail and road to other major cities in the state including Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Dindigul and Vellore. And also other state major cities such as Bengaluru, Tirupati, Pondicherry and Mangalore. Viluppuram serves as one of the important railway junction of Tamil Nadu and Southern Railway Zone. The nearest domestic airport is Pondicherry, which has a daily chartered flight to Bengaluru. The nearest international airports are Chennai and Tiruchirappalli.
Road
Viluppuram is well connected by roads to major cities and to the rest of the state. Viluppuram has the longest National roads of any district in Tamil Nadu. The major national highways of the town are:
- NH 45, which connects Chennai to Theni, via Viluppuram - Tiruchirapalli - Dindigul - Periyakulam.[1][2]
- NH 45A, which connects Viluppuram to Nagapattinam via Pondicherry and Cuddalore.[3]
- NH 234, which Connects Villupuram to Mangalore via Thiruvannamalai - Vellore - Gudiyatham.[4]
- NH 45C, which connects (Viluppuram) Vikravandi to Thanjavur via Panruti - Neyveli - Kumbakonam and intersects with NH 45A in Koliyanur, about 5 km from Viluppuram.[5]
Besides the above-mentioned national highways, several state highways also run through the district and town.
The town has a lot of buses frequently to major cities such as Chennai, Tiruchirapalli, Bangalore, Madurai, Salem, Pondicherry, Vellore etc. The town also serves the frequent bus services to nearby towns like Cuddalore, Thiruvannamalai, Tindivanam, Kallakurichi etc. Viluppuram is also the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation(TNSTC) - Viluppuram Division(the erstwhile Thanthai Periyar Transport Corporation [TPTC]). It is one of the six Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation divisions serving the state.[6]
Bus Stand
Viluppuram has two bus stands for public transport are Viluppuram Bus Station(Viluppuram New Bus Stand) and Viluppuram Old Bus Stand. Viluppuram Bus Station services the mofussil buses and SETC premium buses to major cities and towns. It is one of the largest bus terminus by area in Tamil Nadu. Viluppuram old bus stand is used for local town buses which has been operated by the TNSTC, Viluppuram division.
Rail
Viluppuram has a well-known railway station.It was first built under the British .The Viluppuram Railway Junction at Viluppuram serves as the distribution point of rail traffic from Chennai, the state capital of Tamil Nadu, towards the southern part of the state. The station has daily trains to major cities like Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Pondicherry, Vellore, Coimbatore, Thoothukudi, Tirupati, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore, Vijayawada, Thirunelveli, Erode, Dindigul, Thanjavur, Alappuzha, Guntur etc, and also have weekly trains to Mumbai, Howrah, Delhi, Pune, Kharagpur, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur etc,. It is one of the important junctions in Southern Railway.[7][8] Five railway lines branch out of Viluppuram:
- Double Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Chennai Beach via Chengulpattu Junction.[9][10]
- Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Tiruchirapalli Junction via Vridhachalam Junction and Ariyalur. Also called "Chord Line" to Tiruchirapalli.[11][12][13][14]
- Non electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Tiruchirapalli Junction via Cuddalore Port Junction, Mayiladuthurai Junction, Kumbakonam and Thanjavur Junction.[15][16]
- Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Katpadi Junction via Tiruvannamalai and Vellore Cantonment.[17][18]
- Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line to Pondicherry.[19][20][21]
Viluppuram railway station has been undergone a massive infrastructure upgrade to handle this traffic.
Air
The nearest airport is Pondicherry Airport[22] at Pondicherry,[23] in Puducherry, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Viluppuram. Pondicherry is now connected by Air India Regional with an ATR aircraft service six times a week except Wednesday. This is an afternoon service departing from Bengaluru and returning in the evening to Bengaluru.
The nearest major airport is Chennai International Airport (MAA), approximately 147 kilometres (91 mi) from the town; the next closest major airport is Tiruchirapalli Airport, approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) away.
References
- ^ "Chennai-Trichy Six Lane Upgrade". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "NH 45 Highly Prone to Accidents". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Viluppuram- Nagapattinam Narrow Highway". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Viluppuram- Mangaluru National Highway". The Times Of India. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Vikravandi - Thanjavur un-shape highway". Indian Express. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "TNSTC Viluppuram".
- ^ Indiarailinfo "Indianrailinfo - Viluppuram Junction Departures". Indianrailinfo. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Origins and history of Southern Railway" (PDF). Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ R. Rajaram. "More BG sections to be electrified". The Hindu, 20 April 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ "Villupuram District at a Glance". Villupuram district administration. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- ^ "Electrification work from Villupuram to Tiruchi completed: E. Ahamed". The Hindu. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ R.Rajaram (10 July 2010). "Tiruchi-Chennai line to get decongested". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ "Doubling work on 25-km stretch completed in Trichy division". The Times of India. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ "Kallakudi Palanganatham-Ariyalur railway line nearing completion". The Hindu. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ "IR History: Early Days – I". Chronology of railways in India, Part 2 (1832 - 1865). Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ "IR History: Early Days – II". Chronology of railways in India, Part 2 (1870 - 1899). Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ "Passengers seek shuttle train in Villupuram-Katpadi section". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Special trains between Katpadi and Villupuram". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Residents demand railway station". Puducherry. The Hindu. 6 Jan 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ^ C., Jaisankar (27 February 2013). "A dream-come-true Railway budget: Union Minister". Puducherry. The Hindu. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ^ "Bomb scare at railway station". Puducherry. The Hindu. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ^ "Puducherry airport to go on stream in October". The Economic Times. 3 Sep 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ^ "Flight operations await new terminal". IBN Live. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.