Thiruvananthapuram Transport and Travel

Thiruvananthapuram Transport and Travel

Thiruvananthapuram has an international airport, with direct flights from the Middle East, Singapore, Maldives and Sri Lanka. It is one of the busiest airports in the country in terms of international passenger and cargo volumes. It is therefore considered as the gateway to the tourism-rich state of Kerala.

The central railway station is located at Thampanoor in the heart of the city, 8 km from the airport.It is a very important terminus which handles over 50 trains daily. Because of it, the city is very well connected and has rail service to all major cities in India. Trivandrum is the first major city along the second longest train route in the world, Kanyakumari to Jammu. A second satellite station has recently opened at Kochuveli, near the International Airport.

There is also a long-distance bus station located next door to the railway station. Buses from it go to all major towns and villages in the state as well as big cities in India such as Kochi, Bangalore and Chennai. The city bus stand is located 1 km away at East Fort, near the Padmanabha Swamy Temple.

Within the city, city buses and autorickshaws provide means of transportation. A noticeable feature of the civilian city bus transportation is the lack of route descriptions in English, with almost all the route descriptions on the buses being only in Malayalam, the official language of Kerala. Two-wheelers, especially scooters and motorcycles are the favored means of personal transportation on the roads.