Transport in Karnataka

Karnataka map showing major roads

Karnataka, a state in South India has a well-developed transport system. Its capital city, Bengaluru is well-connected by air to domestic and international destinations and the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in the city is one of the busiest airports in India. It was also the headquarters of the airlines Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines. The road transport is also well developed in the state with many National and State highways providing means for fast transportation. The headquarters of the South-Western Railway division of Indian Railways is located at Hubballi and this division governs most of the railway network in the state. Konkan Railway which passes along the coastal region of the state is considered as one of the toughest engineering projects being undertaken in India till date. Buses, cars and trains are the means of transport for moving across distant places in Karnataka. For transportation within the city or town limits; motorbikes, cars, autorickshaws and buses are used. With the advent of low-cost airlines, many people are choosing to travel via air as well.

Air transport

Mangaluru and Bengaluru are the only two cities in the state that have International flights operating from their airports. Kempegowda International Airport is host to 9 domestic airlines and 19 international airlines and Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, connecting the city to almost 50 destinations across India and the world. With Bengaluru being the 'IT capital' of India, the air traffic to this city has increased manifold.

Mangalore International Airport on the other hand connects 7 international destinations which includes Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar, Dammam, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and domestic destinations like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai. Mangalore International Airport has recorded 28.1% annual growth in passenger traffic for the year 2015-2016 by carrying 1.67 million passengers, making it the fastest growing airport in the state.

Belgaum Airport is the Oldest Airport in North Karnataka .Belgaum Airport has Domestic flights to Bangalore and Mumbai.

Hubballi Airport also has domestic air services to Bangalore. Besides these, there are airports at Bellary Airport and Bidar Airport that do not have any air service. In addition, there are private airstrips at Sedam Airport, Koppal Airport and Harihar Airport.

Kalaburagi Airport, Bijapur Airport and Shivamogga Airport, built under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, was opened for commercial use by July 2013.

Rail transport

Shatabdi Express parked at Mysore railway station
Map of South Western Railway zone

The total length of rail track in Karnataka is 3089 km[1] For a long time after independence, the railway network in the state was under the Southern and Western railway zones which were headquartered at Chennai and Mumbai respectively. The South Western Zone, headquartered at Hubballi was created in 2003 thus fulfilling a long-standing demand of the state. Several parts of the state now come under this zone with the remaining being under Southern Railways. Coastal Karnataka is covered under the Konkan railway network, a project that is regarded as one of the feats of Indian engineering and included the construction of a bridge of length 2,023 metres (6,637 ft) across the river Sharavathi at Honnavar and a tunnel of length 2,960 metres (9,711 ft) at Karwar. Bengaluru, the capital city, is extensively connected with inter-state destinations while other important cities and towns in the state are not so well-connected.[2][3][4] The train connectivity within Karnataka has improved since K.H.Muniyappa,Member of Parliament from Kolar constituency has been the Union Minister of State for Railways.

The superfast Shatabdi Express trains run from Bengaluru to Chennai and Mysuru. A Jan Shatabdi express runs from Bengaluru to Hubballi and this is the first train in India that has been fitted with a GPS (Global Position System) based Location Announcement System. Using this system, the passengers are announced apriori the arrival of a station.[4] Konkan Railway is an engineering marvel; the construction of which included the bridge across the river Sharavathi at Honnavar of length 2023 mts and a tunnel at Karwar of length 2960 mts. nnn

A high-end luxury train operated by the Tourism Department of Karnataka The Golden Chariot covers the places of interest in Karnataka and Goa under the tour name "Pride of the South". Places Covered: Bengaluru - Kabini/Bandipur - Mysuru - Hassan - Hampi - Gadag - Goa - Bengaluru. The same train covers the places of interest in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala with a different tour name "Southern Splendour". Places Covered: Bengaluru - Chennai - Mamallapuram - Pondicherry - Tiruchirapalli & Thanjavur - Madurai - Kanyakumari - Thiruvananthapuram - Backwaters & Kochi / Allepey - Bengaluru.

Water transport

Karnataka has 1 major port; the New Mangaluru Port and 10 minor ports; Karwar, Belekeri, Tadri, Honnavara, Bhatkal, Kundapur, Hangarkatta, Malpe, Padubidri and Old Mangaluru.[6] The construction of the New Mangaluru Port was started in 1962 and completed in 1974. It was incorporated as the 9th major port in India on 4 May 1974. This port handled 32.04 million tonnes of traffic in the fiscal year 2006-07 with 17.92 million tonnes of imports and 14.12 million tonnes of exports.[7] This was actually a slowdown in traffic at this port compared to the previous fiscal year mainly due to the reduction in iron ore exports from the Kudremukha Iron Ore Company limited. The port also handled 1015 vessels including 18 cruise vessels during the year 2006-07.[7] The sector of Inland water transport within the rivers of Karnataka is not well-developed.

Road transport

Among the network of roads in Karnataka, 3973 km. of roads are National Highways.[8] Karnataka also has state highways of length 9829 km.

The public bus transport in Karnataka is managed by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). It was set up in 1961 with the objective of providing adequate, efficient, economic and properly coordinated road transport services.[9] It operates 5100 schedules using 5400 vehicles covering 1.95 million kilometres and an average of 2.2 million passengers daily. About 25000 people are employed in KSRTC.[9] For better management of public transport, KSRTC was bifurcated into three Corporations viz., Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Bengaluru on 15th Aug 1997, North-west Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, Hubballi on 1st Nov 1997 and North-East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, Gulbarga on 1st Oct 2000. The reservation system is networked and computerised and tickets can be availed at designated kiosks in towns and cities. An online reservation system called AWATAR has also been devised by KSRTC using which travellers can reserve tickets online. KSRTC plies various categories of buses viz. Airavat Club-Class (high-end luxury Volvo, Scania, Mercedes-Benz multi-axle AC buses),Airavat (high-end luxury Volvo and Mercedes Benz AC buses),Ambaari(Corona AC and non AC Sleeper buses), Rajahamsa Executive (Deluxe buses built on Leyland, Eicher and Tata chassis), Karnataka Vaibhav (Semi-Deluxe buses built on Leyland, Eicher and Tata chassis), Karnataka Saarige (Bus service linking rural areas to major settlements as well as the cheapest alternative for inter-city or town routes. The buses are built on Tata and Leyland chassis). Grameena Sarige is another initiative by KSRTC to provide bus service to the rural populace of the state.

Buses run by private persons are allowed to operate in few districts of Karnataka.Inter district transportation are run by private operators, connecting capital Bengaluru and main cities like Mangaluru and Dharwad to district headquarters. Intra district transportation by private operators is currently allowed in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. Omni bus and Maxi cabs are also other modes of road transportation in the state, especially where KSRTC does not buses or run very few.


See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Transport in Karnataka.

References

  1. ↑ Statistics related to transportation in Karnataka is provided by "Karnataka". Online webpage of Indian Investment Centre. Government of India. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  2. ↑ "Pilot project: GPS system on B'lore-Hubli Jan Shatabdi". Online Edition of the Deccan Herald, dated 2006-12-25. 2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  3. ↑ GS Prasanna Kumar. "Karnataka and Indian Railways, Colossal wastage of available resources or is it sheer madness of the authorities concerned". Online webpage of OurKarnataka.com. © 1998-00 OurKarnataka.Com,Inc. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
  4. 1 2 The state of Railways in Karnataka is discussed by GS Prasanna Kumar. "Karnataka and Indian Railways, Colossal wastage of available resources or is it sheer madness of the authorities concerned". Online webpage of OurKarnataka.com. © 1998-00 OurKarnataka.Com,Inc. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
  5. ↑ http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/article1401870.ece
  6. ↑ Ports in Karnataka are mentioned by "Minor Ports of Karnataka". Online Webpage of Karnataka Ports Department. Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  7. 1 2 Details related to New Mangaluru Port is provided by"Slowdown in traffic at New Mangalore Port". Online Webpage of The Hindu, dated 2007-04-07. Chennai, India: 2007, The Hindu. 2007-04-07. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  8. ↑ National Highways in Karnataka are mentioned by "National Highways in Karnataka" (PDF). Online Webpage of Karnataka Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-04. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  9. 1 2 A brief discussion on KSRTC is provided by "About KSRTC". Online webpage of KSRTC. KSRTC. Archived from the original on 2007-04-20. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
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