Coimbatore - Connectivity
Coimbatore has a well-developed transport infrastructure. The city
and its suburbs are traversed using its road networks. Coimbatore is well
connected by Road, Rail and Air with most cities and towns in India except through
waterways.
The city has fairly better transport infrastructure, though road
infrastructures are not well maintained and developed according to the growing
needs of transport, making traffic congestion a major problem in the city. A
comprehensive transport development plan is made part of Coimbatore Master Plan
as part to ease many of traffic problems.
By Road
The city and metropolitan area are served by major arterial roads
that run either in an east-west or north-south direction. Avinashi road is one
of the city's most important arterial roads. It traverses most of central and
east Coimbatore (National Highway 47) connecting the metropolis of Bangalore, Chennai. The road runs in a West-east direction.
Other arterials include Trichy Road (Central-Southeast),
Mettupalayam Road (North-South), Sathy Road (South-North East), Palakkad Road
(East-West), Pollachi Road (North-South) and Thadagam Road (east-west).
Maruthamalai Road starts at the intersection of Lawley Road
Junction and connects Vadavalli and extends up to Maruthamalai foothills. Other roads
include 100 feet road, Bharathiyar Road, Dr.Nanjappa Road, Balasundarum Road,
Cross cut Road in Gandhipuram Area, Diwhan
Bahadhur Road(DB Road), TV Swamy Road, Brooke Bond Road in RS Puram Areas, Race
Course Road etc. In January 2012, the Coimbatore Corporation announced
that they would be laying around 10 roads by mixing plastic.
There are six major arterial roads in the city: Avinashi Road,
Trichy Road, Sathyamangalam Road, Mettupalayam Road, Palakkad Road and Pollachi
Road.
Apart from state and National Highways, the city corporation
maintains a 635.32 kilometers (394.77 miles) long road network. Coimbatore
has several major bus stations. The town buses (intra-city) operate from the
town bus stand in Gandhipuram to other bus stations across the city. Inter-city
and intra-city buses that connect Coimbatore operate from different bus stands:
|
Bus station
|
Services
|
|
Gandhipuram Central
|
|
|
Gandhipuram Town
|
Town services
|
|
Singanallur
|
|
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Ukkadam
|
|
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Coimbatore North (Mettupalayam Road)
|
|
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SETC, Gandhipuram
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Express buses to Chennai, Ernakulam, Bangalore, Hyderabad,Tirupati, Puducherry, Thiruvananthapuram etc.
|
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Omni Bus Stand, Gandhipuram
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Private mofussil buses.
|
Town buses started operating in 1921 and serve most parts of the
city, as well as other towns and villages in the district. Buses also connect
the district with all major towns in Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh. The number of inter-city routes operated by Coimbatore division
is 119 with a fleet of more than 500 buses. It also operates town buses on 257
intra-city routes. The city is also served by auto rickshaws and radio taxi services.
National Highways
NH 67: (Mettupalayam Road) towards Ooty and Gudalur leading to
Karnataka and Kerala.
NH 209: (Pollachi Road) towards Palani, Dindigul.
Ring Roads:
There is a major bypass Built by L&T from Neelambur to Madukkarai on NH 47 which intersects Trichy road at Chintamani Pudur
near Irugur and Eachanari in Pollachi Road.
The National Highways Authority of India has also invited feasibility studies to upgrade the National
Highway connecting Pollachi and Bannari passing through the city.
Public Transport:
Most of Coimbatore's intra-city transport requirements are met by
an extensive public transport. The bus service is run by the government - owned TNSTC Coimbatore covers the city and its suburbs.
A large number of intra-city private buses operate within the
city. Bus services are generally considered efficient, but buses on some routes
can get very crowded at times. The bus service plies about 1257 buses on 322
routes. The city is also served by auto rickshaws. The growth of call taxis is
also on the rise.
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, bus terminus and railway stations. 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.
The city has a very high vehicle-to-population ratio. Despite a
sharp increase in the number of four-wheelers in the city, Cycles and motor
scooters are still very prevalent, due to their affordability, fuel efficiency, maneuverability, and ease of parking.
List of Mofussil &Town
Bus Stands:
·
Singanallur Mofussil and
Town Bus stand
·
Head-Office Branch (City
& Moffusil)
·
Uppilipalayam (Mofussil
only)
·
Sungam-1(City & Mofussil)
·
Sungam-2(City only)
·
Ukkadam-1(City & Mofussil)
·
Ukkadam-2(City & Mofussil)
·
Ondipudhur-1(City only)
·
Ondipudhur-2(Mofussil
only)
·
Marudamalai (City only)
·
Ondipudhur-3(Under
Construction)
Also Annur, Pollachi-3, Mettupalayam-1, Karumathampatti &
Palladam depots operate City Services for Coimbatore
By Air
The city is served by the Coimbatore International
Airport at Peelamedu 15 km
(9.3 mi) from the city. The Coimbatore International Airport caters to
domestic flights to major Indian cities like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Vijayawada etc., and
international flights to Sharjah and Singapore.
According to statistics available with the AAI, 12, 95,977
passengers were flown from and to Coimbatore in 2013-14, including 11, 76,428
domestic and 1, 19,549 international passengers. Its runway is 9,760 feet
(2,970 m) in length and is capable of handling wide-bodied and fat-bellied
aircraft used for International flights.
Sulur Air Force Station,
located at Kangayampalayam near
the periphery of the city, is an air base of the Indian Air Force. Air Carnival, a proposed airline
promoted by the CMC group is expected to commence operations in April 2015 with
the Coimbatore International Airport as the hub.
Coimbatore Airport (IATA: CJB, ICAO: VOCB) is a major airport mostly serving Coimbatore and its suburbs in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The Coimbatore International Airport is the second busiest airport in Tamil Nadu after Chennai
International Airport, in terms of passenger traffic, cargo traffic as well as
aircraft movement.
The Coimbatore International Airport serves as the city's airport for both domestic and
international flights. The airport consists of separate International terminal
and the Domestic terminal, and handles domestic as well as international
flights.
The city is connected to major hubs in South Asia, South East Asia and Middle East through over eight international carriers. The Airport lies
around 18 km from the city centre and is accessible by road and rail
transport services.
This airport is undergoing modernisation and expansion of the
runway, including the alteration of an additional terminal. Furthermore, a
new Greenfield airport
will be constructed in Neelambur and nearby areas to serve the city's better
air connectivity, after the expansion of the runway which will be second
longest runway in South India about 12,500 ft. The present terminal
buildings in Peelamedu will be used for
cargo purpose.
Other airports in the metropolitan area include the Indian Air Force base at Sulur. Sulur Air Force Station was
established in 1940 by the British Royal Navy.
By Train
Coimbatore Junction, also
known as Kovai Junction, is the primary railway station serving the city
of Coimbatore. It has six platforms. It
is a Major Railway junction in South India and the second busiest and revenue yielding railway station
in Tamil Nadu. Many trains from Kerala
to other parts of the country pass through Coimbatore Junction apart from 18
pairs of terminating express trains. It is one of the top booking stations in
India according to Indian Railway.
The other junctions are located at Coimbatore North Junction (2.6 km away from CBE on the northern side), Podanur Junction (5.8 km away from CBE on the southern side) and Irugur (16 km from CBE on eastern side).
Train service in Coimbatore started in 1863, upon construction of
the Podanur – Madras line connecting Kerala and the west coast with the rest of
India. Broad gauge trains connect Coimbatore to all parts of India and Tamil
Nadu.
Meter gauge line existed between Podanur and Dindigul got closed on May 2009 and is under gauge conversion.
The Coimbatore Junction is
well connected to all the major Indian cities. The Coimbatore Junction comes
under the Jurisdiction of the Salem Division and
contributes 43.5% of its divisional income. This is the second largest income
generating station in the Southern Railway zone of Indian Railways after Chennai Central.
Coimbatore North Junction is another important railway junction in the city apart
from Coimbatore Junction and Podanur Junction. The other stations include Peelamedu, Singanallur, Irugur, Periyanaickenpalayam, Madukkarai, Somanur and Sulur Road.
There is also a bypass line between Irugur and Podanur which is
used by some Kerala-bound trains which do not enter Coimbatore city.
Monorail:
Three monorail routes have been proposed. Two are circular routes
in the northern and southern parts of the city and a dual linear line
connecting the Eastern and Western parts. The Northern Route starts from Gandhipuram via Ganapathy, Sivananda colony, Saibaba colony, RS Puram, Town
hall, City Railway Station and
ends in Gandhipuram.
The second circular Route will start from Podanur via Trichy Road, Sungam, Redfields, Race Course, City
Railway Station, Ukkadam & ends at Podanur.
A linear line was also proposed from Chinniampalayam, Coimbatore International Airport, CODISSIA, PSG Tech, Lakshmi Mills, Gandhipuram, Coimbatore North Junction, Cowley Brown Road and TNAU. Recently Vadavalli and Thondamuthur are the two new areas that have been included in the linear
line as part of the phase extension.