As Rourkela is the commercial and industrial capital of Odisha, it has a developed transportation network.
Rail
Rourkela railway station is on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line in the South Eastern Railway Zone headquarted at Kolkata.
Road
Being in a state, which has depended on Road Transport for decades. Rourkela has a good connectivity to the other towns on the State with an average frequency through Road. Rourkela city is connected with National Highways NH-23 and SH-10 to the towns and cities of Odisha.
Local transport
Though the city is well connected to the other towns of the state. The internal transport system of the city is not so organized showing the lack of Interest of the Local and State Authorities. Independent three-wheeler auto taxis without meters and local self governance are the most important mode of transportation in the city. Cars as Taxis also ply on the city's roads. Sampark buses, introduced in September 2006, connect various areas in the city.
Air
At one time Rourkela was the only city in Odisha to have a direct air connectivity with Kolkata. But with the transfer of Rourkela Airport from the hands of Airport Authority of India to SAIL and the apathy of state government this was halted.
During mid 2000 Air Deccan showed interest to start its operations here but it never happened. Meanwhile SKY Airways connected the city with Bhubaneswar and Barbil. Again due to some problems it was stopped.
Around 2010-11, the authority of Rourkela Airport was passed over to Airport Authority of India. DTDS started services connecting Rourkela to other steel cities of India and Kolkata. DTDS also introduced India's first per seat charter service from Rourkela
