Tamil Nadu has a well established transportation system that connects all parts of the state. This is partly responsible for the investment in the state. Though the present transportation system is substantial, it needs to be developed further to keep pace with the rapid increase in use.
The whole transportation system of Tamilnadu can be divided into 4 ways:
- Roadways
- Railways
- Airways
- Waterways
Roadways in Tamilnadu
Tamil Nadu has an extensive road network. The state road network covers about 153 km per 100 km2 area, which is higher than the country’s average road network coverage of 103 km per 100 km2 area. A separate Highways Department (HD) was established in April 1946 and the same has been renamed as Highways & Minor Ports Department (HMPD) on 30 October 2008. HMPD of Tamil Nadu is primarily responsible for construction and maintenance of roads including national highways, state highways and major district roads in Tamil Nadu. It operates through 7 wings namely National Highways Wing, Construction & Maintenance Wing, NABARD and Rural Roads Wing, Projects Wing, Metro Wing, Tamil Nadu Road Sector Project Wing, Investigation and Designs Wing geographically spread across the state in 31 districts with about 120 divisions and 450 subdivisions.
Roads in Tamilnadu are broadly divided into three categories:
A.National Highways
Road stretches which have heavy traffic intensity of more than 30,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs) connecting different state capitals, major ports, large industrial areas and tourist centers are designated National Highway by Government of India. In Tamil Nadu, National Highways Wing of Highways & Minor Ports Department was established in the year 1971 to look after the works of improving, maintaining and renewing of National Highways laid down by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). National Highways wing exercises central government funds from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for improvement works. Out of 25 National Highways in Tamil Nadu, 12 highways completely lie within the state.
B. State highways
Road stretches with heavy traffic intensity of more than 10,000 PCUs but less than 30,000 PCUs which connects district headquarters, important towns and the National Highways in the State and neighboring States are declared as State Highways. Construction & Maintenance wing of Highways Department looks after Construction, Maintenance of all the State Highways (SH), Major District Roads (MDR), Other District Roads (ODR). Tamil Nadu State Highways network has 7 circles .
- Districts roads : Major District Roads provide linkage between production and marketing centers within a district. It also provides connectivity fordistrict and taluk headquarters with state highways and national highways. Construction and Maintenance wing of Highways Department executes construction and maintenance of MDRs along with State Highways. These roads have a minimum width of 15 metres (49 ft).
- Railways network in Taminadu
Tamil Nadu has a good rail network as part of Southern Railway. Headquartered at Chennai, the Southern Railway network extends over a large area of India’s Southern Peninsula, covering the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, a small portions of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has a total railway track length of 5,952 km (3,698 mi) and there are 532 railway stations in the state. The system connects it with most major cities in India. Main rail junctions in the state include Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore Erode, Tiruchirapalli and Salem.
Chennai, India’s fourth-largest urban agglomeration, has a well-established suburban railway network, which dates back to 1931, when services began on the metre-gauge line from Beach to Tambaram. The Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is an elevated line of the urban mass transit system (metro-like cityrail) in Chennai (Madras), India. The line currently runs within city from Chennai Beach (Madras Beach) to Velachery, covering a distance of 25 km with 21 stations. Despite of full technical and logical separation from the Chennai Suburban Railway, the MRTS is operated by the state-owned Southern Railway (SR), a zone of Indian Railways.
Chennai Metro
The Chennai Metro is a rapid transit rail system in the Tamil Nadu capital city of Chennai. The Phase I of the project consisting of two corridors is under construction. The elevated section of the project was scheduled to be operational by 2011 and the entire project was scheduled to be completed by the year 2014-2015. About 55% of the corridors in Phase I is underground and the remaining elevated. The project is estimated to cost around 14,600 crore (US$3.17 billion) for the two corridors totaling 45 km.
3.Airways : Tamil Nadu has a major international airport Chennai International Airport, which is the fourth busiest airport by passenger traffic and is the third largest cargo hub in India. Other international airports present in the state are Coimbatore International Airport and Tiruchirapalli International Airport. Madurai Airport is a customs airport with limited international flights. Salem Airport and Tuticorin Airport are domestic airports.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.
Chennai international airport
- Waterways: Tamil Nadu has three major seaports at Chennai, Ennore, Thoothukudi and Nagapattinam. There are 11 other ports. Chennai Port is an artificial harbor situated on the Coromandel coast and is India’s second busiest container hub, handling general industrial cargo, automobiles, etc. Ennore Port handles all the coal and ore traffic in Tamil Nadu.
National Waterway-4 project launched in Tamil Nadu,2014
The Union Government has launched the project for the development of the stretch of 37 Kilometer of the National Waterway-four (NW-4) between Sholinganallur to Kalpakkam in South Buckingham Canal in Tamil Nadu. The project was launched on 24 January 2014.
NW-4 covers a total length of 1078 Km consisting of Kakinada-Puducherry canal systems integrated with Godavari and Krishna Rivers.
Main components of the project include dredging and excavation to develop navigational channel, construction of three terminals and navigational locks, replacement of one existing bridge at Kelambakkam, and installation of navigational aids. The project is expected to be completed in two years with 123 crore rupees.
The project will ease out the transportation problems in Chennai suburbs to a great extent besides promoting tourist movement to important tourist spots at Mahabalipuram and Puducherry.
Other stretches of the National Waterway-4, which covers the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, would also be taken up for development subsequently.
The National Waterways Act, 2016: In this several waterways in Tamilnadu are also poposed .some of the important proposed waterways are as follows :
NW13 AVM Canal Kerala and Tamil Nadu
NW20 Bhavani River Tamil Nadu
NW55 Kaveri Kollidam River Tamil Nadu
NW69 Manimutharu River Tamil Nadu
NW75 Palar River Tamil Nadu
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