Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India, has well-developed transport facilities. Modes of transport in Madurai include road, rail and air. Madurai faces increasing daily traffic problems, so master plans have been prepared to reduce the city traffic and traffic problems in suburbs.[example needed]
Mattuthavani High Road
Roadedit
Madurai is located in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. It is the third largest city in Tamil Nadu and connects the southern districts to northern districts in Tamil Nadu, and is one of the major transportation hubs in Tamil Nadu. The floating population is much heavier in the city . Most of the people from southern districts visit for medical, educational, marketing, cargo, shopping, tourism or official purposes. It is one of the important traffic circles in Tamil Nadu.
M.G.R Bus Stand
There are 30,126 registered three-wheeled vehicles called auto rickshaws, which are commercially available for renting within the city.[1] In addition to the government operated city buses that are used for public transport, there are 236 registered private mini-buses that support local transportation.[1] Madurai connects with the following major national highways;
The state highways passing through the city are SH-32, SH-33 and SH-72, which connect various parts of Madurai district.[2] Madurai is one of the seven circles of the Tamil Nadu State Highway network,[2] is the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai) and provides local and inter-city bus transport across four districts, namely Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Virudhunagar, .[3]
City bus serviceedit
Madurai city has the best city bus service second only to Chennai. The major city areas are connected by Madurai city bus service, operated by TNSTC (Madurai). Most of the buses, like Ashok leyland and TATA Marcopolo, are equipped with LED Displays and some of the Pseudo SLF buses are equipped with GPS which announce the bus stops for passengers. The city buses are available during day time, but some important areas have city bus services all day long (unlike other regions).
The Madurai Bus Rapid Transit System will plays a vital role in public transportation in the city of Madurai. It will increase the frequency of busses and reduces the travelling time.
Madurai city has major city bus stands and originating terminals such as;
Periyar Bus standPeriyar bus stand Madurai central
In Arapalayam Bus Terminus there are 10 tracks are used to handle the mofussil buses
Upcoming: Because the size of a bus Terminus and located inside the city & increase in number of bus ply, this Bus Terminus always seems congested. So City corporation is planned to set up BUS PORT near upcoming AIIMS .In future Arapalayam Bus Terminus is moved out of city to decongest the city traffic.
Madurai Junction railway station is one of the major railway junctions in south India and the headquarters of Madurai railway division. It is well connected with all major cities in India. Madurai division is the second largest by revenue in Southern Railway. It is one of the A1 graded stations in the Southern Railway (railway stations which earn of Rs. 50Cr p.a will get an A1 Grade). Madurai has two terminals:
Madurai Junction railway station (Passenger handling)
Madurai International Airport (IATA: IXM, ICAO: VOMD) is a customs airport serving Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu. The airport is located about 12 km (7.5 mi) from the Madurai railway station. The airport was established in 1956 and is one of the most important airports in Tamil Nadu. It offers domestic flight services to major cities in India and international flights to Colombo, Sri Lanka began on 20 September 2012.[7] Now, it also offers services to Dubai and Singapore. Air India Express, IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet operate from the airport.[8] The airport handled 520,000 passengers between April 2011 and March 2012.[9][10][11]
Terminalsedit
The airport has two adjacent terminals. Currently the integrated terminal is being used for both international and domestic purposes. The Airports Authority of India is planning to convert the old terminal into a cargo complex.[12]
Passenger terminaledit
As the part of modernising 35 non-metropolitan airports, AAI constructed a state-of-art new integrated passenger terminal adjacent to the old terminal. The ₹1.29 billion (US$16 million) new integrated passenger terminal building was inaugurated on 12 September 2010. A total of 610 acres (250 ha) of land is under acquisition for the expansion of the runway to 12,500 ft (3,800 m) to accommodate large jet aircraft.[13] This terminal with an area of 17,560 m2 (189,000 sq ft) can handle a passenger capacity of 250 each on arrival and departure.[14][15] The airport parking area has the capacity to park 375 cars and 10 buses.[16] Some of the features of the new terminal include:[17]
The new terminal has two lounges, a VIP lounge managed by AAI and the Commercial Important persons (CIP) lounge managed by TNCC-Madurai.[18]
Cargo terminaledit
Considering the growing cargo potential in Madurai International Airport, AAI has decided to modify the old terminal into a full-fledged cargo complex.[12] To start with, the union finance ministry has issued customs notifications dated 28 May 2013 regarding the handling of cargo at the Madurai International Airport.
