Vadodara

Vadodara  formerly known as Baroda, is the third largest and most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat, after Ahmedabad and Surat. Historical and archaeological findings date this place back to the 9th century when it was a small town called Ankottaka (present Akota) located on the right bank of the river Vishvamitri (whose name is derived from the great saint Rishi Vishwamitra). Ankottaka was a famous centre of Jainism in the 5th and 6th century AD. Some of the Akota bronze images can be seen in the Vadodara Museum. The city was once called Chandanavati after its ruler Raja Chandan of Dor tribe of Rajputs, who wrested it from the Jains. The capital had also another name "Virakshetra" or "Virawati" (a land of warriors). Later on it was known as Vadpatraka or Wadodará, which according to tradition is a corrupt form of the Sanskrit word Vatodar means 'in the heart of the banyan tree'. It is now almost impossible to ascertain when the various changes in the name were made; but early English travellers and merchants mention the town as Brodera, and it is from this that the name Baroda is derived. Again in 1974 the name changed to Vadodara.

Transport

Air

Vadodara Airport (IATA: BDQ) is located north-east of the city.

Vadodara Airport

 Vadodara has air connectivity with Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Vadodara is set to have an International Airport in near future.

Rail

Vadodara was part of historic BBCI Railway. Railway had arrived in Vadodara in January 1861. On November 5, 1951 the BBCI Railway was merged with the Saurashtra, Rajputana and Jaipur railways to give rise to the Western Railway. Now, the Vadodara Railway Station belongs to the Western Railway zone of Indian Railways and is a major Junction on the Wstern Railway Main Line.

Vadodara Railway Station

 Vadodara junction is Gujarat's Busiesit Junction with almost 150 trains passing everyday. One can travel to almost all the parts of India from Vadodara Junction, where there is a Junction of rails from the directions of Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Kota (4 sides). It has one of the largest Electric Locomotives Shed in Gujarat and various trains have a loco change over at Vadodara. Trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi and important Mail/Express Trains halt at Vadodara Junction. Vadodara has 5 railway stations namely Vadodara Junction (BRC),Pratapnagar, Vishwamitri, Makarpura & Bajwa.
Vadodara also has a Locomotive Shed homing numerous WAP-4,WAM-4,WAG series of Indian Locos.

Road

National Highway 8, connecting Delhi and Gandhinagar with Ahmedabad to Mumbai, passes through the city. Vadodara is also connected with Ahmedabad through Indian National Expressway 1, a stretch of 97 km Super Highway with exits at Anand, Nadiad, S.P.Ring Road and finally Ahmedabad.

National Highway 8

 Public transport vehicles within the city include buses, autorickshaws and taxis. Now there are buses owned by VTCOS for an easy public transportation operated by the private bus operators VTPL which now runs over a hundred buses of 33 and 50 seater configurations. It has taken a lot of two wheeler traffic off the road and helped the people in easy safe and cheap transport service. A significant proportion of the population uses their own vehicles – cars, scooters, motorcycles and bicycles.

• Paved Roads: 1680 km
• Unpaved Roads: 400 kilometer
• Total Roads: 2080 km