Transportation in Karnataka

Karnataka, a state in South India has a well-developed transport system. Its capital city, Bangalore is well-connected by air to domestic and international destinations and the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) in the city is one of the busiest airports in India. It is 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 Hubli 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

Mangalore and Bangalore are the only two cities in the state that have International flights operating from their airports. While the international flights from Mangalore International Airport are only to countries located in the Middle East, Bangalore has good international connectivity with flights from different nations landing here. The airport at Bangalore is termed as BIAL Airport and Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines are some of the important airlines that operate out of this airport. With Bangalore being the 'IT capital' of India, the air traffic to this city has increased manifold.

Bangalore is the headquarters of the low-cost airline Air Deccan which has been instrumental in opening up the previously unused airports of Hampi, Bellary, Hubli and Belgaum to passenger air traffic. It is also the headquarters of Kingfisher Airlines. Mysore is one of the major cities in Karnataka that is lacking an airport.

Rail transport

The total length of rail track in Karnataka is 3089 km Statistics related to transportation in Karnataka is provided by cite web|url=http://iic.nic.in/iic2_bka.htm|work=Online webpage of Indian Investment Centre|publisher=Government of India|title=Karnataka|accessdate=2007-05-06] 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 Hubli 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 convert|2023|m|ft|0|lk=on across the river Sharavathi at Honnavar and a tunnel of length convert|2960|m|ft|0|lk=on at Karwar. Bangalore, the capital city, is extensively connected with inter-state destinations while other important cities and towns in the state are not so well-connected.cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/archives/dec252006/state143720061225.asp|title=Pilot project: GPS system on B’lore-Hubli Jan Shatabdi|work=Online Edition of the Deccan Herald, dated 2006-12-25|publisher=2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd.|accessdate=2007-05-06] cite web|url=http://www.ourkarnataka.com/issues/karnataka_railways.htm|author=GS Prasanna Kumar|title=Karnataka and Indian Railways, Colossal wastage of available resources or is it sheer madness of the authorities concerned|work=Online webpage of OurKarnataka.com|publisher=© 1998-00 OurKarnataka.Com,Inc|accessdate=2007-04-20] Karnataka does not have a good internal rail network though the South Western Railway's headquarters are located here in the city of Hubli The state of Railways in Karnataka is discussed by cite web|url=http://www.ourkarnataka.com/issues/karnataka_railways.htm|author=GS Prasanna Kumar|title=Karnataka and Indian Railways, Colossal wastage of available resources or is it sheer madness of the authorities concerned|work=Online webpage of OurKarnataka.com|publisher=© 1998-00 OurKarnataka.Com,Inc|accessdate=2007-04-20] . Only Bangalore is connected well by trains to other cities in India. The following reasons indicate the poor rail network in the state:
* Mangalore, one of the major towns in Karnataka has now a train to other major cities like Bangalore, Mysore started on 8 December 2007, but not directly to Hubli.
* Metre gauge tracks from Shimoga to Talguppa and Mysore to Chamarajanagar have no or very few trains running on them.
* District capitals like Chikkamagaluru and Madikeri are not connected by a rail network
* The district of Kodagu has no railway track within it.
* Doubling of the track between Bangalore and Mysore (a line that receives very good patronage) is yet to be completed.
* Though the state has Konkan Railway within it; it has remained isolated with no trains running from other parts of the state to places that exist on the Konkan Railway.

The superpast Shatabdi Express trains run from Bangalore to Chennai and Mysore. A "Jan Shatabdi" express runs from Bangalore to Hubli 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. The state of Railways in Karnataka is discussed by cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/dec252006/state143720061225.asp|title=Pilot project: GPS system on B’lore-Hubli Jan Shatabdi|work=Online Edition of the Deccan Herald, dated 2006-12-25|publisher=2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd.|accessdate=2007-05-06] 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.

Water transport

Karnataka has 1 major port; the New Mangalore Port and 10 minor ports; Karwar, Belekeri, Tadri, Honnavar, Bhatkal, Kundapur, Hangarkatta, Malpe, Padubidri and Old Mangalore. Ports in Karnataka are mentioned by cite web|url=http://www.karnatakaports.in/our_ports.htm|title=Minor Ports of Karnataka|work=Online Webpage of Karnataka Ports Department|publisher=Government of Karnataka|accessdate=2007-05-06] The construction of the New Mangalore Port was started in 1962 and completed in 1974. It was incoporated as the 9th major port in India on 4th 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. Details related to New Mangalore Port is provided bycite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/07/stories/2007040705571500.htm|title=Slowdown in traffic at New Mangalore Port|work=Online Webpage of The Hindu, dated 2007-04-07|publisher=2007, The Hindu|accessdate=2007-05-06] 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company limited. The port also handled 1015 vessels including 18 cruise vessels during the year 2006-07. ] The sector of Inland water transport within the rivers of Karnataka is not well-developed.

Road transport

"See also : List of National Highways in Karnataka"

Among the network of roads in Karnataka, 3973 km. of roads are National Highways. National Highways in Karnataka are mentioned by cite web|url=http://www.kar.nic.in/pwd/mis2005/Map%201%20of%20MIS%20report.pdf|title=National Highways in Karnataka|work=Online Webpage of Karnataka Government|accessdate=2007-05-06] Karnataka also has state highways of length 9829 km. The road from Bangalore to Mysore (State Highway 17) is also well maintained and equal to the standard of a National Highway.

The public bus transport in Karnataka is managed by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). It was set up in the year 1961 with the objective of providing adequate, efficient, economic and properly coordinated road transport services. A brief disussion on KSRTC is provided by cite web|url=http://ksrtc.in/about_ksrtc.htm|title=About KSRTC|work=Online webpage of KSRTC|publisher=KSRTC|accessdate=2007-05-06] 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. ] For better management of public transport, KSRTC was bifurcated into three Corporations viz., Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Bangalore on 15th Aug 1997, North-west Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, Hubli 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. Airavata (high-end luxury Volvo AC buses), Mayura (luxury AC buses), Rajahamsa (deluxe buses), Semi-deluxe and normal buses. "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 Bangalooru and main cities like Mangalooru and Dharwad to district head quarters.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.

References