Travel
information in Hyderabad
Air
There are Indian Airlines flights from Hyderabad to points all over India. Other domestic airlines are East West, Modiluft, and Jet. The Air India office is on Secretariat Rd. Indian Airlines is near the Secretariat building. There are flights to Bombay (6 daily), Calcutta (2 daily), Delhi (3 daily), Madras (2 daily), Bangalore (daily), and three flights a week to Bhubaneswara. East West Airlines has a daily flight (except Sun) to Visakhapatnam. East West has four flights a week to Tirupati.
The airport is at Begumpet, Secunderabad. By the meter it costs about Its 40 to the airport by auto-rickshaw, but most drivers will not use the meter. There are prepaid taxis at the airport.
Train
There are two train stations-Hyderabad Railway Station (also called Nampally) and Secunderabad. Trains leave daily from both stations for almost all parts of India.
Some trains from Hyderabad Railway Station are the daily Charminar Express to Madras (15hr), the Hyderabad Express to Bangalore (17 hr), the Hyderabad-Bombay Express (17 hr), the Godavari Express to Vijayawada (6½ hr), and the Nizamuddin-Hyderabad Express to Delhi (33½ hr), The fastest way from Calcutta to Hyderabad is to take the Coromandel Express to Vijayawada and then get another train from there (total travel time is at least 32 hr).
From the Hyderabad station the Rayasaleena Express (16½ hr) goes to Tirupati. From Secunderabad the Venkatadri (18 hr) goes to Tirupati.
From Secunderabad to Aurangabad there is the Ajanta Express (12½ hr). There is a day train from Aurangabad to Hyderabad. If you want to travel at night from Aurangabad to Hyderabad you can get train to Pune and connect with another train to Secunderabad. The train leaving Pune can be reserved at the Aurangabad train station and will not leave until the Aurangabad train arrives. The Andhra Pradesh Express goes to New Delhi (26 hr). It takes 39 hrs to reach Ajmer from Secunderabad. To get to Hospet and Hampi you take the Venkatadri Exp to Guntakal (9 hr) and then connect with the Vasco Exp (2½ hr).
You can book train tickets at the Hyderabad Station for trains leaving from the Secunderabad Station as well. When you purchase a train ticket you have to ask what station the train departs from, as the two stations are about a half hour apart and this can sometimes cause confusion.
Both stations have tourist quotas. The Reservation Office is to the left as you enter the station. Counter #123, next to enquiry, is for tourist reservations (also lost and group tickets). Foreign tourists can book their tickets with the Chief Reservation Inspector's Office on platform 1.
Bus
The APSRIC bus station, Gowliguda, has buses going all over the state. You can get semi-deluxe and super-deluxe buses from here. There is a computerized booking office open daily. There are two bus stations-the old and the new. More than likely you will want to go to the new bus station, and you should make this clear to the rickshaw driver as it is further than the old bus stand. Otherwise they will drive you to the old bus stand and then ask for more money to get you to the new bus station.
There are buses departing to Tirupati (10 daily, 9 hr), Vijayawada, Aurangabad, Madras (I daily, 16 hr), Bombay (8 daily, 17 hr), Bangalore (10 daily, 13 hr), and many other places. There is a luxury bus to Srisailam, which cannot be booked in advance.
There are private bus companies that have super-deluxe video buses to major cities like Bombay, Bangalore, Tirupati, and Madras. Their main offices are on Nampally High Rd (Public Gardens Rd) by the railway station. Noble Travels and Asian Travels both seem to be reliable ticket outlets. Most of these buses leave in the late afternoon and travel overnight.
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