Tianshui South (天水南) is the city's high-speed rail station and its best transport connection. Direct services run to Xi'an in about two hours and to Lanzhou in under an hour. The high-speed station is about 8 kilometres from the city centre; taxis and buses connect the two.
The older Tianshui railway station, in the city centre, serves slower conventional train services on the same Lanzhou–Xi'an line. These are cheaper and provide more scenic travel through the Wei River valley, but they take considerably longer.
Tourist buses to Maijishan depart from outside Tianshui South Station and take about 45 minutes. Local buses serve the city and surrounding towns, and a network of routes connects the two main urban districts (Qinzhou and Maiji).