Transport in Rourkela

Rourkela is the third largest city of Odisha. It is home to Rourkela Steel Plant - One of the profit generating unit of SAIL. The city is surrounded by hills and rivers which adds to the scenic beauty to the entire region. The city is facilitated with numerous modes of transportation which makes it accessible through various parts of the country.

Air Transport in Rourkela

Air travel was started in Rourkela by Tata Iron and Steel Company somewhere around 1950 for the sole purpose of easing the transportation of officials to Rourkela and also to transport raw materials like Dolomite. This was the beginning of Air Travel in this city. The minerals required to run the Iron and Steel industry were required to be transported from Sundargarh. The Air Travel initially consisted of small airplanes that covers small distances. It was only after the Airport Authority of India took over the Rourkela Airport that a fully functional airport came into existence.


Currently Air Odisha runs charter flights between the cities Rourkela, Bhubhaneshwar and Jharsuguda. The Airport in Rourkela was initially controlled by Vayudoot but since the time it suffered major losses, it is being controlled by the Steel Authority of India. The other airways that connects to Rourkela is JAC Air which runs regular airplanes between Rourkela and Jamshedpur. Apart from this Rourkela has a direct air connectivity with Kolkata. The other airways that connects Rourkela to other parts of India include DTDS and Sky Airways.

Rourkela Airport
Post Luhakera, Sundergarh,
Rourkela: 769001
Phone: 0661-2642601

Roadways in Rourkela

Rourkela is criss crossed with numerous state and national highways that makes it accessible to different parts of the state and other parts of the country. NH-23 connects this city with other parts of Odisha. It connects Rourkela with Jharkhand and ends in Talcher in Odisha. The highway connects with Talcher at the NH-42 junction which is another important national highway marking roadways in Rourkela. The other important national highway in Rourkela is the SH-10. The internal roadways connecting the various parts of the city are highly developed.

Bus Terminals and Bus Routes

Buses run frequently between Rourkela and cities like Bhubhaneshwar, Ranchi and Raipur. The road distance between Rourkela and Bhubhaneshwar is 5 hours, that between Rourkela and Ranchi is 4 hours while that between Rourkela and Raipur is 6 and a half hours. Bus services are quite good between Rourkela and Kolkata too. The travel time to reach Rourkela from Calcutta is 9 hours. Buses connect cities like Sambalpur, Puri and others in Odisha with Rourkela. Volvo as well as interstate buses run pretty frequently between these cities. One can find that SH-10 and NH-23 serve best for road travel to and from Rourkela.

Orissa State Road Transport Corporation

OSRTC Head Office
Address: Paribahan Bhavan,
Sachivalaya Marg,
Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India
OSRTC Contact Number : 0674-2530649
OSRTC Fax No : 0674-2530719
OSRTC Email Id Mail: osrtc@orissa.nic.in
OSRTC Official Website: https://www.osrtc.in
OSRTC Mobile Ticketing : https://m.osrtc.in

Rail Connectivity in Rourkela

The city is well connected through rail transport as well. One of the oldest modes used to carry minerals and transport raw materials for the survival and existence of the steel plant in Rourkela was railways. Till today Rourkela is well connected with various parts in India through railways. The two major lines that connect Rourkela to major parts in India include the Howrah Mumbai line and the Ranchi Bhubhaneshwar line. The Rourkela railway line is conducted along the Bilaspur section . BBS Garib Rath is the train that connects Rourkela to Cuttack. This is one of the major trains that runs along this line. The other train that connects this route is Kalingaut Express, Tapaswini Express as well as Howrah Express.

Local Transport in Rourkela

The local transport in Rourkela is pretty well networked. One can easily commute from one part of the city to another without much hassle. Infact local transport is one of the key features of this city in Odisha.There are autos and metered taxis that form a portion of the local transport in the city. Recently Sampark buses were initiated to facilitate transport in Rourkela. The local transport is available round the clock. Apart from the state buses, the city also offers private buses as part of the local transport in Rourkela.