Attur Taluk is one of the taluks, or administrative division of Salem District in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The division's headquarters is Attur town. Background Attur Taluk is surrounded by Gangavalli Taluk on east and Pethanaickenpalayam Taluk on the west. Recently, the railway station was rebuilt and the tracks expanded to accommodate a broad gauge. Train services run from Viruthachalam to Salem, and from Attur to Chennai. Transportation Attur is on NH 79. Attur is well connected with Salem on the west at 55 kilometres and Kallakkurichi on the east (north-east) at 45 kilometres on the Salem-Ulunderpet NH 79 which in turn connects to Chennai through arterial NH 45 at Ulunderpet and NH 47 (Salem-Kanyakumari via Coimbatore, Cochin, Trivandrum) at Salem with a number of bus routes. Private buses are operated between Attur and nearby towns/villages. Tamil Nadu State run corporation, formerly known as Anna Transport Corporation (ATC), in Salem district compete with private buses in that area. Train services run between Attur to Salem, Attur to Virudhachalam and Salem-Chennai Egmore express train runs via Attur. The frequency of operation is very low; one in each direction in the morning and one in the evening. Pondicherry-Bangalore AC express train (Puducherry Yesvantpur Garib Rath Express) runs via Attur. Attur has many lorry transport services including Southern Roadways Ltd (TVS), ABT, ARC and other daily transporters. In Attur, the Southern Roadways branch was run by Late Mr. K.R. Ramanathan, from 1950 till 1993. He was the agent since the inception of Southern Roadways in Tamil Nadu. During his tenure, he earned a good name in Attur. Attur is landlocked and depends on the Port of Chennai for most oceangoing freight. Nearest airport is Salem Airport which is 55 km from the town. Villages Villages in the vicinity include Thalavaipatti and Paithoor. Another notable village here is Gudamalai, located along the Thamampatti to Gangavalli highway. It is surrounded by hills on all four sides. Location Attur is a Selection Grade Municipality town and also the headquarters of Attur Taluk in Salem District. Formerly it was a town panchayat and was constituted as a Municipality with effect from 1.4.1965. It is a class II town. The extent of the Municipal area is 27.62 km2. The population as per 2001 census is 57519. Attur is a very ancient town. Attur is known as the river town. The town is situated on the southern