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Trivandrum Essential Information

Trivandrum Town - Kerala

Emergency

Police Ph 100;
Fire Ph 101;
Ambulance Ph 102;

Medical Services

The general hospital is on Statue Rd, about 1 km west of MG Rd.

Money

Travellers cheques and credit card cash advances can be processed at the Canara Bank near the South Park hotel and at the Bank of India counter in the lobby of the Hotel Chaithram. TT Travels, Niranjan Towers, KP Elankath Rd, Vellayambalam, is open daily 9.30 am to 7.30 pm.

Post & Communications .

The main post office is on MG Rd; it`s open Monday to Saturday 8 am to 8 pm.

Email is available during business hours at the central telegraph office and Multidata, 3rd Floor, Kottarathil Buildings (behind the Bank of Baroda). There`s a 24 hour service at Hotel Chaithram.

Bookshops & Libraries .

The Victoria Diamond Jubilee Library (the state public library) is on MG Rd. It`s open daily 8 am to 8 pm

The British Library (Ph 328716) is officially open to members only, but visitors are welcomed.. It`s open Tuesday to Saturday 11 am to 7 pm.

Along MG Rd many bookshops including Continental Books, Current Books, DC Books, Higginbothams, Modern Book Centre, CLS Books and Priya Books. Other bookshops include a second DC Books (Karimpanal, Statue Rd) and the Kerala Book Marketing Society, VJT Hall (near the mosque).

Getting There

By Road

KSRTC bus stand, opposite the train station, regular buses operate to destinations Kollam ( 1 ½ hours), Alappuzha ( 3 ¼ hours), Ernakulam (five hours) and Thrissur (6 ¾ hours). Buses depart hourly for the two hour trip to Kanyakumari. There are two morning buses daily for the eight hour trip to Thekkady (Rs 85) for Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Tamil Nadu state bus service — SETC, at the eastern end of the long-distance bus stand. has services to Chennai (eight daily, 17 hours), Madurai (10 daily, seven hours), Pondicherry (one daily, 16 hours), Coimbatore (one daily), as well as Nagercoil and Erode. KSRTC also operates several services daily to Coimbatore. Long-distance buses operate to Bangalore , Bus No 111 goes to Kovalam Beach every 30 minutes between 5.30 am and 9.30 pm from East Fort, Stand 19, on MG Rd.

By Rail

The reservation office (8 am to 8 pm daily, Sunday 8 am to 2 pm), on the 1st floor of the station building,. The booking office where tickets can be bought just prior to departure is open 24 hours.

It`s 436 km to Coimbatore (nine hours). Coimbatore has connections to Mettupalayam and Ooty.

Trains that go in Karnataka include the daily Parsuram Express (departs 6 am; 15 hours) and Malabar Express (departs 5.40 pm). Both these trains travel via Ernakulam, and there are daily expresses to Ernakulam (for Kochi) including the Shoranur Venad Express (departs 5 am) and the Rajkot Express (departs 2.10 pm).

It`s about 42 km (by train) from Thiruvananthapuram to Varkala (55 minutes), 65 km to Kollam (11/2 hours); 224 km to Ernakulam (five hours); and 414 km to Kozhikode (10 hours). it`s 87 km to Kanyakumari ( two hours).

By Air

Trivandrum is directly connected to all major cities of India.