Chandigarh Transportation

Chandigarh is very well connected by train. I came here on the early Kalka Shatabdi (No. 2011) which left New Delhi station at 7.40am and arrived at 11.25am (was supposed to be 11am dead but I'll let them off!). A Chair Class seat cost Rs435 and you get plenty of legroom plus breakfast and tea/coffee.

I saw this double decker bus outside the Rock Garden and even though I didn't use it, I suppose its fairly useful for getting around as its both informative and cheap. Remember, Chandigarh is a large city and all the main sights are a fair distance apart from each other.

A complete whole trip costs Rs25 (without getting on or off) and lasts an hour. If you wish to get off and then back on and only take half a day, it costs Rs50. For a full day, it costs Rs75. It runs in the summer from 9.30am-6.30pm and in the winter from 10am-5pm. It leaves from the parade ground in sector 17.

For some reason the auto rickshaws are blue in Chandigarh. They operate just like they do in most other places in India i.e. without the meter running, so you have to negotiate and agree on the fair with the driver before getting in. I took one from the station when I first arrived to my hotel in sector 22 and it cost Rs80 (bear in mind that the train station is some 8km away from the city centre). The only other one I took was from my hotel to the Capitol complex (approx 4km) and that costs Rs45. There is a pre-paid booth behind the bus station.