Chennai has a well-developed[1] transport infrastructure. The city and its suburbs may be traversed using its road and rail networks[1].
Contents |
Chennai's economic development has been closely tied to its port and transport infrastructure[1], and it is considered as the best infrastructure in India.
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). East Coast Road starts from Thiruvanmiyur and connects Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry and extends beyond.
Four major National Highways radiate outward from Chennai:
Chennai is also served by the three major ring roads that are being developed.
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 Bypass road was built. It currently links NH 45 with NH 4, and a second stage linking NH 4 with NH 5 is under construction. Elevated roadways are also proposed along several sections of existing roadway to reduce travel time[2][3] .
The Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) foundation stone laid by Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi in 1999 and 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 Asia, and serves as the terminus for all intercity buses from Chennai.[4] 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.
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 3257 buses on 622 routes, moves an estimated 4.35 million passengers each day .[5]
In addition to the bus service, private metered call taxis and fixed-rate tourist taxis are available at all entry points to the city like airport, mofussil bus terminus and central railway station.
Unmetered autos ply across the city and is the most dangerous mode of transport in Chennai. Drivers always demand flat rates and certainly need extensive bargaining as they often ask for more than three times the actual fare. However, avoid using autorickshaws until and unless it is an emergency and no other means of transport is available as the autorickshaw drivers in Chennai grossly overcharge and often behave rudely and drive rashly.
Alternative to the auto rickshaws are the share autos, in which passengers pay a shared fee to their destination. Its one of the ideal and economic options for most passengers without heavy luggages.
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.
In addition to the roads, Chennai has a complex rail network for both passengers and freight.
The Chennai suburban railway system has 6 lines with a total system length of about 896.5 km (557 mi) (non redundant track length) of which 286 km (178 mi) are true suburban and 610.5 km (379 mi) MEMU service].
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.[6][7] A new MRTS line has been proposed between Thiruvanmiyur and Mamallapuram.
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.
A metro system is under construction to meet the future urban transport requirements.[7] Totally 7 corridors have been proposed. In first phase, two corridors are under construction. Three corridors has been proposed in the second phase.
The Smart Card looks similar to a debit card, issued by the suburban railway at ticket counters for Rs.100 currently. This Rs.100 includes Rs.50 refundable deposit, and Rs.50 travel value. The travel value can be used to purchase platform and travel tickets for the Chennai suburban trains. The smart card is valid for 6 months from the date of purchase and the extra amounts of travel value can be recharged whenever needed. It is found that very few people are using this smart card.
Smart Card is very beneficial in terms of avoiding standing in long queues saving precious time, and also keeping track of the money spending on the trains travel. The touch screen ticket vending kiosks are provided in many stations, for using the smart card services. The kiosk has a multilanguage interface, featuring Tamil, English and Hindi. The user has to place the smart card, select destination zone, destination station, number of adults, number of children, one way or return ticket and via stations. The ticket is printed for the user with in a second.
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 .[8][9] 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.[10]
Other airports in the metropolitan area include the Indian Air Force base at Tambaram and the Indian Naval air base at Arakkonam.
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.[11] 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.
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||