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Tamil Nadu ranks second in terms of transport network. The State utilises all the three modes of major transporting facilities in an effective manner. The State is well connected globally by means of International Seaports and Airports.
Chennai's
Meenambakkam airport, 12-km from the city center, receives both domestic
and international flights. The Kamaraj Domestic terminal and the Anna
International terminal, both at Meenambakkam, offer quality facilities.
Chennai airport is
connected with 15 countries with more than 60 direct flights every week.
The presence of an international airport at Chennai and domestic airports
at Chennai, Salem, Trichy, Coimbatore and
Madurai, Neyveli and
Tuticorin make several parts of the state
easily accessible. Increased industrial activity has given rise to an
increase in passenger traffic as well as freight movement, which has been
growing at over 18 per cent per year.
Headquartered at
Chennai, the
Southern Railways present network extends over a large area of India's
Southern Peninsula, covering the states of Tamil Nadu,
Kerala,
Pondicherry,
a major portion of Karnataka and a small
portion of Andhra Pradesh.
Tamil Nadu has a total railway track length of 6,693-kms and there are
690 railway stations in the state. Main rail junctions in the State
include Chennai,
Madurai,
Tiruchirapalli,
Salem, Coimbatore,
etc.
In Chennai, the
Central Railway Station is 5-km from the city centre and trains from
almost all cities of India halt here. Broad gauge train services link the
city with New Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkatta (Calcutta),
Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram,
Hyderabad,
Bangalore,
Coimbatore, Lucknow,
Guwahati and other important cities. The metre gauge train services cater
to the south of Chennai, including Madurai,
Rameshwaram,
Tirunelveli and Tuticorin.
The railhead for metre gauge services is situated at the Egmore station.
The length of road network in Tamil Nadu is nearly 1.70 lakh kms. Private bus operators link the important cities and government buses ply the entire south. The inter-state buses run by State Express Transport Corporation connects Chennai with Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The state has two major all-weather ports at Chennai and Tuticorin, as well as two intermediate and six minor ports all of which are currently capable of handling over 32 million metric tonnes of cargo annually.