Transport in Thoothukudi

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Thoothukudi is an Industrial City and it has transport connections via road, rail, sea and air. After Chennai, Thoothukudi is the only city in Tamil Nadu to have all four means of transport.

Contents

Roadways

Thoothukudi - Ramanathapuram - Chennai ECR 2017 four lane state highway SH 49 Tamil Nadu India.jpg
Thoothukudi – Ramanathapuram - Chennai ECR

Thoothukudi City is well connected by road. The Major Highways are,

Railways

Transport in Thoothukudi
Thoothukudi Railway Station WDM-3D class Locomotive of Indian Railway.jpg
Thoothukudi Railway Station

Thoothukudi railway station is one of the oldest [3] railway stations in India and South Indian Railway began a Madras – Thoothukudi service connecting with the boat to Ceylon in 1899. [4] The station was declared as Model Station in 2007 [5] and several infrastructure developments are in process.[ clarification needed ] There is also another station, known as Tuti-Melur . [6] It has suburban stations such as:

SL no.StationCode
1Tuticorin (Main Railway Station)TN
2 Tuti-Melur TME
3MilavittanMVN

Airport

Tuticorin Airport Tuticorin Airport.jpg
Tuticorin Airport

Tuticorin Airport( IATA : TCR, ICAO : VOTK) is a domestic airport serving Thoothukkudi, the sea gateway of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located at Vagaikulam in Thoothukkudi district, situated 16.1 km (10.0 mi) southwest from the city centre on National Highway 7A. It is owned by the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the Republic of India and operated by the Airports Authority of India. On 13 April 2018, the airport was certified with ISO 9001:2015 quality.

IndiGo is operating 5 direct daily flights to Chennai and 1 direct daily flight to Bengaluru.

SpiceJet is operating 2 direct daily flights to Chennai and 1 direct daily flight to Bengaluru.

The nearest international airport is Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in Kerala, which is about 198 km by road.

AirlinesDestinations
IndiGo Bengaluru, Chennai
SpiceJet Bengaluru, Chennai

Seaport

Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal of V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority.jpg
V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority
Major Port of the Republic of India

V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority is one of the 13 major ports in India. It was declared to be a major port on 11 July 1974. It is the second largest port in Tamil Nadu and the third largest container terminal in India. V.O. Chidambaranar Port is an artificial port. It is the third international port in Tamil Nadu, and it is the second all-weather port.

As a mark of paying tribute to the legendary freedom fighter V. O. Chidambaranar, who plied the first swadeshi ship from Thoothukkudi to Colombo in 1907, Tuticorin Port Trust was renamed as V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust. Consequent to the repeal of the Major Port Trust Act, 1963, on 3 November 2021, V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust was renamed as V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority. The port is located strategically close to the East-West International sea routes on the southeastern coast of India, and it is located in the Gulf of Mannar, with Sri Lanka in the southeast and the large landmass of India in the west; it is also well sheltered from the fury of storms and cyclone winds.

It is the only port in South India to provide a direct weekly container service to the United States (transit time 22 days). There are regular weekly direct services to Europe (transit time 17 days), China (transit time 10 days) and the Red Sea (transit time 8 days).

Spaceport

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The Government of India is to set up a new Rocket launch pad near Kulasekaranpattinam in Thoothukudi district. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has begun work on its second Rocket launching pad or Spaceport, which will be Kulasekaranpattinam, Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Like the Sriharikota spaceport in the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Thoothukudi was selected as a spaceport due to its nearness to the equator. "A rocket launch site should be on the east coast and near the equator. And Thoothukudi district satisfies that condition," a former ISRO official stated. [7]

References

  1. "NH- 38" (PDF). 31 March 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  2. "NH 32" (PDF).
  3. Railway Map of India – 1893
  4. "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: IR History: Early Days - 2". Irfca.org. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  5. "Plan to upgrade railway station in Tuticorin". The Hindu . Chennai, India. 29 January 2007. Archived from the original on 1 June 2008.
  6. "[IRFCA] Indian Railways Station Codes Index". Irfca.org. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  7. "Why Thoothukudi was chosen as ISRO's second spaceport". www.thenewsminute.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.