In Trichy, air travel makes rapid strides, not road, rail

Trichy: As we inch closer to the 25th year of the century, Trichy city has a few hits and misses in urban transport infrastructure. If Trichy international airport has witnessed a big jump in international services and passengers handled, bus transport and railways have not made matching strides notwithstanding modernisation of bus terminuses and railway junctions improving passenger amenities. Indeed, international flyers can now board flights from here instead of travelling to Chennai.
Trichy airport is soaring
Back in 1999-2000, Trichy airport, according to Airports Authority of India (AAI) data, handled 56,884 passengers a year and there were 13 international services a week connecting five destinations.

Now, it connects 11 destinations and has 103 weekly international services, predominantly to Southeast Asian and gulf countries. In 2023-24, the airport handled 13 lakh passengers. "Average passengers handled by Trichy airport have surged from 4,900 a month in 1999 to over 1 lakh a month in 2024. We await the airport runway's expansion to realise its true potential in future," said H Ubaidullah, independent aviation analyst.

Many of the major developments in Tamil Nadu's second busiest international airport have happened in the last 25 years. International airport status was awarded by civil aviation ministry in October 2012. The airport has had two passenger terminals in the last two decades.

The old one was commissioned in 2009, and a new integrated passenger terminal at Rs 1,112 crore opened in 2024. Aviation experts said that the 455 acres of land acquired to increase the airport's runway length from 8,136 feet to 12,500 feet in length would play a pivotal role in handling wide body aircraft with additional passenger capacity.
Roadways, e-vehicles gaining ground:
With the integrated bus terminus (IBT) in Panjapur nearing completion, the public transport infrastructure of the city is expected to transform in the next few years. The city is also getting satellite bus terminuses at Srirangam and Thiruverumbur to develop decentralised transport hubs.

Chathiram bus terminus redeveloped at Rs28 crore has helped the city handle city and suburban buses better. Meanwhile, app-based autorickshaw services and taxis have taken the city's public transport to a new level in the last decade. Instead of looking for autorickshaw stands, people can now book rides by tapping their mobile phone.

Trichy city has around 150 electric autorickshaws of which around 50 can be hailed through mobile apps. Until Covid-19 arrived in the 2020-21 financial year, Trichy city has been recording around 25,000 app-based autorickshaw and taxi bookings a day. "E-vehicles are slowly but steadily gaining ground. Apart from students and women preferring battery operated two-wheelers for comfort, office goers are purchasing vehicles to cut down fuel expense," S Mahendran, a Thennur-based auto consultant said.
Railways infra improves but not connectivity:
Trichy railway junction, the second largest railway facility in Tamil Nadu, has seen heavy investments made in improving passenger amenities such as escalators and lifts at Rs 9.5 crore.

A quarter century ago, if passengers had to carry their luggage manually to platforms, escalators and lifts near platforms have alleviated their woes. Battery-operated vehicles are available for a price at the junction helping passengers to commute between nine platforms here. "Infrastructure may have improved, but connectivity needs more attention. As many as 15 trains that were extended from Trichy have to be restored or new train services launched," Subhash Chandran, a rail enthusiast, said.

With no direct Vande Bharat and Tejas trains, passengers said Trichy division authorities must focus on improving connectivity as much as infrastructure.