get there and around-transport
by air
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.
by train
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.
by road
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.
