How to Reach IIT Kanpur

International Travel

The Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi is a convenient point of entry for arriving at Kanpur. The IGI airport at Delhi is served by most major airlines. The international terminal at the IGI airport is called Terminal 2.

Domestic Air Travel

Kanpur is mostly served by the airport of the city of Lucknow that is about 1 hour and 45 minutes drive from IIT Kanpur. There are currently four airlines that serve the Lucknow airport with several direct flights to Delhi and Mumbai everyday. There is also a local airport in Kanpur that is about an hours driving distance from IIT Kanpur. There is currently only one Indian Airlines flight to and from Delhi that arrives at and departs from the Kanpur airport.

Air India
Jet Airways
Jetlite Airlines

Air Travel from Delhi

Note that domestic flights mostly operate out of Terminal 1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Terminals 1 and 2 are at a distance of about 5 miles from each other. There are courtesy shuttle buses that run between the two terminals at a frequency of approximately one per hour. Please contact the airline help desk across from the baggage claim area to avail of this facility. Terminal 1 is divided into several buildings, named Terminals 1A through 1D. Please refer to the IGI airport website to find out which airlines operate out of which terminals.

Air Travel from Mumbai

There are a few direct flights from Mumbai to Lucknow. Another possibility is to take one of the many flights between Mumbai and Delhi and then connect to a Delhi-Lucknow or Delhi-Kanpur flight.

Coming to Kanpur from Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad

If you are planning to come from one of the Indian metros or state capitals, you can take a flight from that city to either Delhi or Mumbai and then connect to one of the flights to Lucknow.

Domestic Train Travel

Train service in India is provided by the Indian Railways and is the most popular form of public transportation. Passenger service in the Indian Railways is divided into several classes, namely, Air Conditioned I (First) class, Air Conditioned II (Two Tier) class, Air Conditioned III (3-tier) class, Air Conditioned Chair Car and Sleeper Class. The Rajdhani and the Shatabdi family of trains are widely regarded as the best trains in India. Train reservations can be made at one of the many Railway reservation counters all over India or over the internet using the Indian Railways e-ticket facility. See the Indian Railways website for further details. For those inexperienced in travelling by the Indian Railways, it is recommended that they travel by one of Air Conditioned I, Air Conditioned II or the Air Condit ioned Chair Car (for Shatabdi trains) classes.

Travelling to and from New Delhi

There are over twenty trains connecting New Delhi with Kanpur. A few of the convenient trains are listed below. The city of Delhi has several railway stations. The trains listed below originate from the New Delhi Railway Station (code NDLS). The New Delhi railway station is about 10-12 miles from either of the airports. Depending upon the traffic, it may take from 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get from the airports to the railway station. It is suggested that passengers connecting from a flight to a train take this into consideration. The main train station at Kanpur is called the Kanpur Central railway station (code CNB).

Direct Trains from Kolkata

Air travel from Kolkata (formerly called Calcutta) to Kanpur requires a changeover at Delhi. Overnight train journey by the Rajdhani expresses can provide a comfortable alternative, besides being less expensive. Below is a list of the timings of the Rajdhani expresses that connect Kanpur to Kolkata . Note that Kolkata has two stations, namely, Howrah and Sealdah. The Calcutta Rajdhani departs from the Howrah station, whereas, the Sealdah Rajdhani departs from the Sealdah station. (In the following table (+1) indicates that the timings specified are for the day after the day of boarding the train.)