Saturday, December 19, 2015

Pudukottai - Connectivity

Pudukottai - Connectivity
By Road
The Pudukkottai municipality maintains 122.84 km (76.33 mi) of roads. The city has 4.16 km (2.58 mi) concrete roads, 9.78 km (6.08 mi) WBM roads, 6 km (3.7 mi) gravel roads, 2.5 km (1.6 mi) foot paths and 100.4 km (62.4 mi) bituminous road. A total of 19.908 km (12.370 mi) of state highways is maintained by the State Highways Department and national highways by the National Highways Department.
There are two national highways namely the NH 336 Trichy -Ramanathapuram road and NH 226 Perambalur - Manamadurai road that pass via Pudukkottai.
There are two state highways that pass via the town - SH 26 Trichy - Mimisal road and SH 71 Musiri - Sethubavachatram road. The other major district roads connect Pudukkottai to other parts of the district. The Pudukkottai bus stand is a B-grade bus stand located in the centre of the town. 
The State Express Transport Corporation operates long distance buses connecting the city to important cities like ChennaiCoimbatore, TiruppurVellorePazhaniErodeVelankanni, Tiruvannamalai, Nagercoil, Thiruchendur and Thoothukudi.
There are frequent intercity buses operated by the TNSTC Kumbakonam division to cities like Tiruchchirappalli, Thanjavur, Madurai, Manapparai, Aranthangi, Karaikkudi, Devakottai, Pattukkottai, Ponnamaravathi, Chennai Rameswaram and Kumbakonam.
By Train
Pudukkottai railway station has daily express trains to and from ChennaiRameswaram and weekly express trains to Coimbatore, Puducherry, KanyakumariVaranasi and Bhubaneshwar. The town has passenger train services to Trichy, Manamadurai, Mannargudi, Rameswaram and Karaikudi.
It falls under the operational limits of Madurai Railway Division of the Southern Railway Zone and it is a major as well as an important passing station present on the Tiruchirappalli- Karaikkudi railway line. It is under the station category D, which denotes the stations that generate revenue below 4 crores annually and have very less amenities.
The station serves as an alternative rail route to the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. A new line from Thanjavur - Pudukkottai was proposed and the survey works were completed, which when fully materializes elevates Pudukkottai to junction station.
The railway station is located about 2.1 kilometers (1.3 mi) from the new bus stand. It is not easily accessible as it is located far away from the main town. Very few buses are available to the railway station. It can be accessed through a cab or an auto.
Before the gauge conversion, the station had only 3 tracks. Now an additional fourth track has been constructed for handling goods trains. As it is a passing station, there are no pitlines available. There is also a considerable amount of space available for the extension of the railway station in future.
Services:
All the trains bound to Karaikkudi, Manamadurai and few trains bound to Rameswaram and Kanyakumari from Chennai Egmore and Tiruchirappalli pass through this station. All the trains have a stoppage here for a minimum of 1–2 minutes.
Express Trains:
·        12605/12606 Pallavan Express
·        16701/16702 Boat Mail Express
·        16713/16714 Sethu Express
·        16181/16182 Silambu Express
·        14259/14260 Rameswaram - Varanasi
·        18495/18496 Rameswaram - Bhubaneswar
·        16861/16862 Puducherry - Kanyakumari
·        16617/16618 Coimbatore - Rameswaram
Passenger Trains:
·        56829/56830 Trichy - Rameswaram Passenger
·        76807/76808 Manamadurai - Trichy DEMU
·        76839/76840 Trichy - Karaikkudi DEMU
·        76830/76831 Karaikkudi - Trichy DEMU
By Air

Pudukkottai does not have an airport. The nearest local and international airport is the Tiruchirapalli International Airport, located 45 km from the town. Another Major Airport located near Pudukottai is Madurai Airport located at a distance of 93 Kms.