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MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
165
centrating in and around
Chennai.
The other aspects that
need attention simulta-
neously are the safety
in commuter move-
ment, environmental
aspects as well as the
mitigation of climate
change factors. The city
is served with a system
of ring and radial road
networks.
Its road network
comprises National
Highways that con-
verge and run through
the city, viz., the NH 4
connecting Mumbai and Chennai
(Periyar EVR Salai), NH 5 running
between Chennai and Kolkata, NH
45 or the Grand Southern Trunk
Road between Chennai and Trichy
and beyond, along with an inner
ring road, national highway bypass,
and an outer ring road that is being
built.
The East Coast Road and the
old Mahabalipuram road connects
Chennai to Pondicherry and Cud-
dalore. NSK Salai (Arcot Road)
and Kamarajar Salai are the other
important road arteries in the city.
Chennai Central, Basin Bridge,
Salt Cotars, Royapuram and
Egmore stations connect the city
with the rest of the country and fa-
cilitate movement of people, goods
and services. The Chennai Domes-
tic International Airport located on
NH 45 is the third busiest airport in
India and has a separate cargo com-
plex that enables export and import
of goods. It is also close to the
Madras Export Processing Zone.
New greenfield airport
A new greenfield airport is also
now being planned at Oragadam
with a capacity to handle 40 million
passengers. Complementing the
rail, road and air network, Chennai
has a fairly advanced port infra-
structure. This includes the highly
developed Chennai Port close
to the Central Business District,
Royapuram fishing harbour to the
north of Chennai Port, and the re-
cently set up Ennore and Kattupalli
Ports, all to the north of it. There
is also a proposal to develop a port
south of Chennai at Mugaiyur.
Chennai has the maximum
number of container freight stations
in India, 28 of which are in opera-
tion currently with most of them
being located in the northern and
western parts and three more to be
built soon.
The existing network spread
across rail, road, air and sea trans-
port has been playing a crucial role
in the city’s economic growth. The
battur industrial estates.
Transportation network:
An overview
Today Chennai has become the
gateway for domestic and interna-
tional trade in the South. Goods
are both consumed as well as
transported to and from the region.
The shipment centers in the ports,
airport and the railway heads rely
heavily on movement of goods and
traffic in the metropolitan region,
and the ability to move these goods
has become crucial in maintaining
the efficiency of the industries con-
logistics