Transport in Viluppuram

Viluppuram is well connected by roads to major cities and to the rest of the state. Viluppuram has the longest National roads of any district in Tamil Nadu. The major national highways of the town are:

• NH 45, which connects Chennai to Theni, via Viluppuram - Tiruchirapalli - Dindigul - Periyakulam.[1][2]
• NH 45A, which connects Viluppuram to Nagapattinam via Pondicherry and Cuddalore.[3]
• NH 234, which Connects Villupuram to Mangalore via Thiruvannamalai - Vellore - Gudiyatham.[4]
• NH 45C, which connects (Viluppuram) Vikravandi to Thanjavur via Panruti - Neyveli - Kumbakonam and intersects with NH 45A in Koliyanur, about 5 km from Viluppuram.[5]

Besides the above-mentioned national highways, several state highways also run through the district and town.

Chennai - Trichy intercity bus via Viluppuram

The town has a lot of buses frequently to major cities such as Chennai, Tiruchirapalli, Bangalore, Madurai, Salem, Pondicherry, Vellore etc. The town also serves the frequent bus services to nearby towns like Cuddalore, Thiruvannamalai, Tindivanam, Kallakurichi etc. Viluppuram is also the headquarters of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation(TNSTC) - Viluppuram Division(the erstwhile Thanthai Periyar Transport Corporation [TPTC]). It is one of the six Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation divisions serving the state.[6]

Viluppuram Railway Junction

Viluppuram has a well-known railway station. It was first built under the British. The Viluppuram Railway Junction at Viluppuram serves as the distribution point of rail traffic from Chennai, the state capital of Tamil Nadu, towards the southern part of the state. The station has daily trains to major cities like Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Pondicherry, Vellore, Coimbatore, Thoothukudi, Tirupati, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore, Vijayawada, Thirunelveli, Erode, Dindigul, Thanjavur, Alappuzha, Guntur etc, and also have weekly trains to Mumbai, Howrah, Delhi, Pune, Kharagpur, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur etc,. It is one of the important junctions in Southern Railway.[7][8] Five railway lines branch out of Viluppuram:

• Double Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Chennai Beach via Chengulpattu Junction.[9][10]
• Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Tiruchirapalli Junction via Vridhachalam Junction and Ariyalur. Also called "Chord Line" to Tiruchirapalli.[11][12][13][14]
• Non electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Tiruchirapalli Junction via Cuddalore Port Junction, Mayiladuthurai Junction, Kumbakonam and Thanjavur Junction.[15][16]
• Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line towards Katpadi Junction via Tiruvannamalai and Vellore Cantonment.[17][18]
• Electrified BG (Broad Gauge) line to Pondicherry.[19][20][21]

Viluppuram railway station has been undergone a massive infrastructure upgrade to handle this traffic.

Train timetable as on 28-02-2018 [22]

The nearest airport is Pondicherry Airport[23] at Pondicherry,[24] in Puducherry, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Viluppuram. Pondicherry is now connected by Air India Regional with an ATR aircraft service six times a week except Wednesday. This is an afternoon service departing from Bengaluru and returning in the evening to Bengaluru.

The nearest major airport is Chennai International Airport (MAA), approximately 147 kilometres (91 mi) from the town; the next closest major airport is Tiruchirapalli Airport, approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) away.