Getting Around Roorkee
Roorkee is a compact city on the banks of the Ganges Canal, and most of it is easy to cover with local transport. The city has no metro or tram system, so visitors rely on a mix of cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, buses, taxis and, in the older parts of town, their own two feet.
Local Transport Within the City
The most common ways to get around Roorkee are the Vikram auto rickshaw and the cycle rickshaw. Both are well suited to short hops and to the interior lanes that larger vehicles cannot reach.
- Cycle rickshaws are the traditional option for short distances and narrow streets.
- Auto rickshaws and Vikram autos cover longer cross-city trips and are the usual choice for reaching the railway station or the bypass.
- Motorbikes and cycles are widely used by residents for personal travel within the city.
- Rental cars are available from local agencies, offering four- and eight-seaters, SUVs and hatchbacks. Rates are negotiable, and this option costs more than public transport.
Walking is recommended in certain Old City areas, where the streets are best explored on foot.
Rail
Roorkee's railway station sits on the Kolkata (Howrah)–Amritsar main line, which makes the train the easiest way to reach the city from elsewhere in India. The station is served by local and superfast trains and has direct connections to major metro cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Chandigarh, as well as to Muzaffarpur, Varanasi, Indore, Madurai, Ujjain, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun, Meerut and Ambala.
For visitors, rail is often the cheapest and quickest option compared with road travel. Tickets can be bought at the main station reservation counter; there is also a separate railway reservation counter on the IIT Roorkee campus, which is convenient if you are based there.
Buses and Other Public Transport
Bus services are run by the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) alongside private operators. The main bus depot is on NH-58, and buses connect Roorkee with cities across North India, including destinations in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab.
Common routes from Roorkee include Chandigarh, Delhi, Dehradun, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Deoband, Gurukul, Iqbalpur, Jhabrera and Ponta. Buses come in several classes — ordinary, express, semi-deluxe, deluxe and air-conditioned — with fares and comfort levels to match. Private bus fares are generally higher than UTC fares. Monthly pass schemes exist for Rishikesh–Roorkee and Dehradun–Roorkee commuters.
For long-distance coach travel, many operators pick up and drop off on the main bypass road rather than in the town centre, which keeps large coaches out of the inner streets. The Roorkee Bypass stop, opposite the well-known New Golden Dhaba, is the primary boarding point for several inter-city services and covers routes toward Haridwar, Dehradun, Delhi and Chandigarh. Kalam Chowk serves as a secondary reference point closer to the city centre. If you are catching a coach here, arrive at least twenty minutes before departure, wait in the designated public area since the bypass is a busy road, and note that food stalls and small eateries are available near New Golden Dhaba. Operators on this corridor typically offer app-based booking, live GPS tracking and cancellable tickets.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
Taxis and rental cars are the most comfortable option for reaching the airport or travelling between cities, though they cost more than buses or trains. Local rental agencies offer a range of vehicles and negotiable rates. For short trips, auto rickshaws fill much the same role as taxis and are easier to find in the city centre.
Getting from the Airport
Roorkee has no airport of its own. The nearest is Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, a domestic airport roughly an hour away by road. It has daily flights to Delhi, and Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport is the nearest international gateway, about 200 km from Roorkee.
From Jolly Grant Airport you can reach Roorkee by private taxi, arranged through the counters at the airport, or by Uttarakhand state bus services. If you are arriving from Delhi instead, the train is usually the simplest way into Roorkee, with several daily services from the capital.
Practical Tips
- Allow extra time when heading to the bypass for an inter-city coach — it is a busy road and boarding points are not in the town centre.
- From the bypass, the railway station is a short auto or cab ride away, and IIT Roorkee is a similar trip in the other direction.
- Cycle and auto rickshaws are your best bet for the Old City and lanes too narrow for cars or buses.
- Compare UTC and private bus fares before booking; the public option is usually cheaper.