Transport in Chennai

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Map of the road and rail transportation network in the Chennai metropolitan area
Map of the road and rail transportation network in the Chennai metropolitan area

Chennai has a well developed transport infrastructure. The city and it's suburbs may be traversed using its road and rail networks.

Contents

[edit] Roads

Chennai's economic development has been closely tied to its port and transport infrastructure.

The city and metropolitan area are served by major arterial roads that run either in an east-west or north-south direction . Anna Salai — or Mount Road as it is more popularly called — is the city's most famous road. It traverses most of central and south Chennai and leads on to the Grand Southern Trunk Road (National Highway 45) to Thiruchirapalli. The road runs in a north-east to south-west direction. Other arterials include Kamaraj Salai (north-south), Poonamalee High Road (east-west), Radhakrishnan Salai (east-west), and Sardar Patel Road (east-west). Chennai is also served by the Inner Ring Road that circled the metropolitan area when it was built. The proposed Outer Ring Road will further improve the traffic flow around the city. In addition, the recently constructed Chennai byepass road, that connects NH 45 to NH-4, and in future, NH-5 has allowed freight traffic to byepass part of the city, and provides a convenient alternative to the Inner Ring Road. Most of the arterial roads lead to the National Highways and State Highways.

Five major National Highways radiate outward from Chennai:

  • Erukancheri High Road to the northwest, becoming National Highway 5 to Kolkata;
  • Poonamallee High Road (Periyar Salai) to the west, becoming National Highway 4 to Mumbai;
  • Mount Road (Anna Salai) to the south-west, becoming National Highway 45 to Tiruchirapalli and the interior of Tamil Nadu;
  • Madras-Tiruvallur High Road (MTH Road), built parallel to NH 4 to the west, leading to Tiruvallur;
  • Beach Road to the south along the coast, becoming East Coast Road to Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry and beyond.
The CMBT in Koyambedu is the terminus for all intercity bus services from Chennai. It is the largest bus station in South Asia
The CMBT in Koyambedu is the terminus for all intercity bus services from Chennai. It is the largest bus station in South Asia

A major problem facing Chennai is urban sprawl. When the Inner Ring Road was built in the early 1980s, it used to effectively bypass the city and was valuable for rapid freight movement between the south-west NH 45 and the north-west NH 5. The city grew subsequently and subsumed the road as part of itself. To answer questions of traffic congestion on the Inner Ring Road, the Chennai Byepass road was built. It currently links NH 45 with NH 4, and a second stage linking NH 4 with NH 5 is planned. Elevated roadways are also proposed along several sections of existing roadway to reduce travel time[1][2] .

The Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) was opened in 2001 in Koyambedu in western Chennai by the then Chief Minister Ms. J. Jayalalitha. The CMBT is the largest bus station in South Asia, and serves as the terminus for all intercity buses from Chennai[3]. The CMBT is located on the Inner Ring Road, replacing the older terminus on the Esplanade in the city centre. State transport and private bus services to all major cities and towns in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states start from here.

[edit] Public Transport

IT Corridor in Chennai
IT Corridor in Chennai

Most of Chennai's intra-city transport requirements are met by an extensive public transport system. The bus service, which is run by the government-owned Metropolitan Transport Corporation covers the city and its suburbs. Bus services are generally considered efficient, but buses on some routes can get very crowded at times. The bus service, which plies about 3084 buses on 626 routes, moves an estimated 4.03 million passengers each day[4].

In addition to the bus service, private metered call taxis, fixed-rate tourist taxis and metered autos are extensively used. In the case of autos though, drivers often demand flat rates especially for short distances(say 1-2 km). Vans which are run like bus services and popularly called "Maxi Cabs" also ply on many routes in the city. The outlying suburban areas of the city are also served by private mini bus company services as well as government bus transport corporations of neighbouring districts.

Despite a sharp increase in the number of four wheelers in the city, motorcycles, mopeds and motorscooters are still very prevalent, all of which are preferred to cars due to their affordability,fuel efficiency, maneuverability, and ease of parking.

[edit] Railway Network

Schematic map of the road and rail network in Chennai
Schematic map of the road and rail network in Chennai

In addition to the roads, Chennai has a complex rail network for both passengers and freight.

[edit] Suburban System

The Chennai suburban railway system can be broken down into four sections:

The system uses broad gauge. The section from Washermanpet to Beach handles predominantly freight traffic from Chennai Port, and is not geared well to serve passengers.

The MRTS system is planned to meet with the Tambaram branch of the existing suburban network at St. Thomas Mount. The plan envisages the MRTS line to proceed north from St. Thomas Mount, forming a ring around the city and ending at the northbound Central-Gummidipoondi line. However, extending MRTS beyond St. Thomas Mount is not very certain in light of the State Government deciding to develop the Chennai Metro rail system [5][6].

[edit] Main Railway Terminal Stations

There are two main railway terminals, the Chennai Central station, which is the city's largest railway station with trains to major cities and towns in India, and Chennai Egmore, with trains to cities and towns within Tamil Nadu.

[edit] Metro Railway

An underground elevated surface metro railway transport system has been planned for the city to meet the future urban transport requirements[6]. See Chennai Metro.

[edit] Airport

Chennai Airport at night
Chennai Airport at night
Main article: Chennai International Airport

The Chennai International Airport serves as the city's airport for both domestic and international flights. The airport consists of the Anna International terminal and the Kamaraj Domestic terminal, and handles domestic as well as international flights. It is the third busiest airport in India and handled a staggering 12 million passengers in 07-08 with international passenger traffic alone growing at 20 percent - higher than any other metro airport in the country .[7][8].The city is connected to major hubs in South Asia, South East Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America through over fifteen international carriers. The airport is also the second busiest cargo terminus in the country with its large integrated cargo terminal. The Airport lies around 25 km from the city centre and is accessible by road and rail transport services.

This airport is undergoing modernisation and expansion, including the construction of an additional terminal. Furthermore, a new greenfield airport is to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2,000 crore in Sriperumbudur to serve the city's burgeoning air traffic.[9]

Other airports in the metropolitan area include the Indian Air Force base at Tambaram and the Indian Naval air base at Arakkonam.

[edit] Ports

The city is served by two major ports namely Chennai Port — which is one of the largest artificial ports — and Ennore Port. Chennai port is India's second busiest container hub, handling general industrial cargo, automobiles, etc[10]. An additional container terminal is being constructed, as well. Chennai Port has 21 alongside berths in three distinct zones of the Chennai port namely the Ambedkar Dock (inner harbour to handle passenger, general cargo and containers), Jawahar Dock (to handle coal,fertiliser,other bulk and break bulk cargo) and Bharathi Dock (outer harbour accommodates ore and oil handling system and a modern container terminal). The Ennore port currently handles cargo such as coal, ore and bulk and break bulk cargo. A new container terminal is also planned for the Ennore port. A smaller harbour at Royapuram is used by local fishing boats and trawlers.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Land Use and Planning Strategy (PDF). Draft Master Plan – II for Chennai Metropolitan Area. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
  2. ^ Srivathsan, A. "Bridge across time Skyline", The Hindu, September 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-16. 
  3. ^ Dorairaj, S. "Koyambedu bus terminus gets ISO certification", The Hindu, December 28, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. 
  4. ^ The Growth. Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai) Ltd (July 31, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
  5. ^ "Metro rail for Chennai?", The Hindu, August 21, 2003. Retrieved on 2009-26-02. 
  6. ^ a b Bhatnagar, Gaurav Vivek. "Chennai metro back on track", The Hindu, August 22, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-04. 
  7. ^ Traffic statistics - Passengers (Intl+Domestic), Annexure IIIC (PDF). Airports Authority of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  8. ^ Traffic statistics - Aircraft movements (Intl+Domestic), Annexure IIC (PDF). Airports Authority of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  9. ^ "New greenfield airport to be set up near Chennai", The Hindu, May 22, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-22. 
  10. ^ "Gateway to India for Singapore firms", Business Times, July 6, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-13. 

[edit] External links