Many of you guys will be coming to IIST for admissions next week. But as soon as you'll reach Trivandrum you'll realise how far the campus is from the city, be it the Railway Station, or the Airport. And along with that you may also face some challenge while communicating with the locals if you don't know Malayalam. So here's a guide to reach IIST Campus from Trivandrum City.

This guide is also helpful while coming back to campus when you'll go to city as a student.

Also note that, this is not an exhaustive guide, there can be more ways, and if you know, please mention in the comments as it will be useful for me too.

This guide is mainly focused for those who don't want to spend a lot of money on cabs/auto and want to reach through buses and are not in a hurry. If you're in a hurry, just spend some money and take the cab. Also, you'll not find bus if it's night time, so this guide is only for day-time.

If you do want to come via cab/auto, you'll get it easily from either the Railway Station or the Airport. The typical fairs are as follow:

• Airport
  • Taxi: Rs1500 (Airport Taxi service)
  • Auto: 900-1100 (depends on how good you bargain)
• TVM Central Railway Station
  • Taxi: Rs1000-Rs1300
  • Auto: Rs800-Rs1000

Important Note: Please make sure that the cab/auto driver has clearly understood that you want to go to IIST, sometimes they confuse it with IISER (which is much farther from the city than IIST). To remove any confusion, mention the place "ISRO Valiamala" to the driver.

The Main Guide

Step 1:
First of all you have to somehow reach the "Thampanoor Bus Stand". Thampanoor Bus Stand is just in front of the TVM Central Railway Station. So to reach Thampanoor Bus Stand from:

• TVM Central Railway Station: Come out of the railway station and cross the road.
• Airport
  • Cab/Auto: It's relatively cheap and the distance is also less, I'm not sure about the fare, but it's straightforward and worth it in my opinion.
  • Bus: There are special buses that are named as "Air-Rail Bus" that goes from Both terminal of Airport to the Railway Station, but I'm not sure about their timings.

Step 2:

After reaching Thampanoor Bus Stand; There are multiple terminals with numbering where the buses arrive and departs. You've to find the Terminal which is going to "Vithura".

Note: Almost everything is written in Malayalam, so if you can't find that terminal, there is an enquiry section where you can ask. Currently I forgot which terminal it was, but I'll update it later.

After reaching that terminal, wait for the bus to come. If the bus is already there, ask the conductor/driver if the bus is going to "Vithura". If yes, then only board the bus.

Take ticket from the conductor for the place "ISRO Junction Valiamala". It's fair is Rs38-Rs40 per ticket.

Now get a seat, or stand if you want to, till you'll reach ISRO Jn. You'll reach there in around 45min-60min from Thampanoor. For convenience, open google maps and set your journey till ISRO Jn to make sure you don't miss that bus stand.

Step 3:

After deboarding at ISRO Jn, you'll have to walk 10-15min to reach IIST Back Gate (Also known as IIST Hostel Gate).

It's best to follow google maps in walking mode to reach the gate.

In between you'll find LPSC (Liquid Propulsion System Centre) cryo gate which is very near to the Valiamala Police station. Don't confuse it for the IIST Gate and turn left from that point, eventually you'll reach IIST Back Gate and it is clearly written there. Just follow the google maps.

If I have made any mistake, please correct me in the comment section so that I can update it.

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