get there and around-transport
Amritsar's international airport, Raja Sansi International Airport, has more than 150 domestic and international flights during the week with daily connections to Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu.
Amritsar is well connected by trains with daily trains from Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and other major Indian cities. The main railway station in Amritsar is the Amritsar Railway Station. There is a special train that runs west to Wagah (Attari border), which is the last stop on the border in India before continuing on to Pakistan. Indian Railways has proposed a high speed rail line to serve Delhi-Amritsar via Chandigarh and Ambala. The train is to run at high speeds of 350 km/h, a first of its kind in India. It will travel the distance of 445 km between the two cities in 2.5 hours (compared to nearly 8 hours right now). Companies from Japan, China, UK and Canada have expressed an interest in the project. The contract for building the line will be awarded at the end of May, 2008. Other lines of this kind have proposed in Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Pune, and Kolkata.
Amritsar is located on the historic Grand Trunk Road or G.T Road or National Highway 1 (NH 1) and therefore, very well connected to the road network. Daily bus services run to and from Ambala, Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu. A sum of Rs 450 crore is being spent to expand the Amritsar-Jalandhar stretch of G.T. Road to four lanes. In 2006, the government of Punjab finalized plans for the construction of an elevated road with four lanes connected to the National highway for better access to the Golden Temple.
For transportation within Amritsar city, rickshaws, autorickshaws, taxis and buses are easily available. Recently, the government of India and Punjab pledged Rs. 2,100 Crore for the development of a Mass Rapid Transport system for the city.[citation needed] It is hoped that this will help in relieving traffic congestion and improving air quality.
