[ravib]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

I keep doing Bangalore <-> Chennai shuttles (E.city <-> tiruvanmiyur) of late, atleast once every month, and consistently, my timing has been anywhere between 3h50m to 4h45m. On average 4h15m is what it takes. Bangalore departures are always 3am or 4am and Chennai departures are always 9pm or 10pm. I lose an average of 30m traversing (never tried anything other than Porur-Guindy route, at times it takes 20m, at times even 1 hour, very unpredictable actually) from one end of Chennai city to other before the highway entry/exit at Poonamallee.
The 6 lane section between chennasamudram toll <--> E.city almost always takes 2h30m or so. .

Just curious at what speed you drive and which vehicle? Please don't get me wrong, these numbers seems to be too aggressive to me from safety perspective that too in odd hours. 2.30 hours between Chennasamudram to EC seems to be extremely fast.

-Ravi

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by hserus

The Thiruporur - Chengalpet road has a right that goes towards Kanchi and then continue towards Bangalore. Quite useful if you live on the OMR itself.

Which road are you talking about? The widest and fastest road I can think of is Kelambakkam-Mambakkam-Vandalur. And it is not an optimal route if Bangalore is the destination.

The fastest (sometimes even faster than the Guindy-Porur route) is the Tambaram-Mudichur-Manimangalam-Sriperumbudur, even with the 2 dozen speed breakers between Tambaram and Mudichur.

If you prioritize better roads and peace of mind, it would be Vandalur-Padappai-Oragadam-Sriperumbudur.

All other routes like Vandalur-Walajabad-Military Road, Oragadam-SH120-Sunguvachatram are not optimal in terms of time and involve 2 lane roads with traffic.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Narayan was also telling me about this route from Thiruporur some time ago. But it was aimed at going past Singaperumal Koil in the GST.

Actually I keep recommending ECR over OMR (because Kelambakkam, Thiruporur are messy and Thiruporur-Chengalpattu is narrow), but thats if you are heading south on NH45, not for NH4 destinations.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by ravib

Just curious at what speed you drive and which vehicle? Please don't get me wrong, these numbers seems to be too aggressive to me from safety perspective that too in odd hours. 2.30 hours between Chennasamudram to EC seems to be extremely fast.

-Ravi

Not very agressive - 110-120kph. With only trucks for company alongwith the odd car now and then, the road is practically empty and need to brake is almost NIL, other than for passing through fastag lanes in tollbooths. The only place where some mid-cruise braking is needed is over the climbing stretches between krishnagiri and hosur in the towards bangalore direction.
Car is linea Tjet

[venkyhere]

this is a recent log in the chennai to bangalore direction


(Mods : please merge this post with the one above, committed the earlier post without attaching)

[binand]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

I keep doing Bangalore <-> Chennai shuttles (E.city <-> tiruvanmiyur) of late, atleast once every month[...] I lose an average of 30m traversing (never tried anything other than Porur-Guindy route, at times it takes 20m, at times even 1 hour, very unpredictable actually)

I hear you. Having done Marathahalli-Thiruvanmiyur averaging once a month for the best part of a decade, here's what I eventually worked out (based on arrival time of mid-morning in Chennai):

* Worst of all options is Sriperumbudur-Poonamallee-Porur-Guindy-Tidel Park-Thiruvanmiyur. Avoid this unless all other options are ruled out for some reason or other.

* Sriperumbudur-Mudichur-Tambaram-Medavakkam-Sholinganallur-Injambakkam-Thiruvanmiyur seemed to be is the best of the options. You are never stuck; traffic flows albeit slowly. You don't lose as much time as the above option and aren't stuck in bad bumper-to-bumper traffic at the fag end of a 300km drive.

* Sriperumbudur-Oragadam-Vandalur-Kelambakkam-Kovalam-Thiruvanmiyur is longer than the above so takes a bit more time, but traffic is lesser. Easier to drive but not for people of all temperaments. This is what I often end up taking.

Any other route that takes a wider arc south of Chennai is not worth considering unless you have stops in those towns (Thiruporur, Singaperumal Koil etc.). You lose a lot of extra time on the road. Similarly turning off the GQ at Kanchipuram or any other point earlier than Sriperumbudur is also not optimal.

[alstonlobo]

Weekend getaway to a resort in Hosur got just confirmed.

Travelling via K R Puram to Hosur by car on Friday morning and returning on Sunday noon.

Any RT-PCR, E-Pass etc required to enter TN?

KA Registered car with wife, kids and dogs. I was thinking to take the village roads to bypass the checking/tolls etc. Thoughts?

[Rocky_Balboa]

Originally Posted by alstonlobo

Weekend getaway to a resort in Hosur got just confirmed.

Travelling via K R Puram to Hosur by car on Friday morning and returning on Sunday noon.

Any RT-PCR, E-Pass etc required to enter TN?

KA Registered car with wife, kids and dogs. I was thinking to take the village roads to bypass the checking/tolls etc. Thoughts?

There are random stops for KL/ TN registered cars at the Attibele toll, towards Bangalore.
And random checks for cars at Zuzuvadi check-post (just after Attibele toll towards Hosur), but none requiring certificates.

[alstonlobo]

Originally Posted by Rocky_Balboa

There are random stops for KL/ TN registered cars at the Attibele toll, towards Bangalore.
And random checks for cars at Zuzuvadi check-post (just after Attibele toll towards Hosur), but none requiring certificates.

To avoid the hassle of all this, i am planning on taking a detour just before the Attibele toll there is a road on the left penetrating towards the inner locality which will help us bypass both the toll and checkpost and also geographically traverses towards the resort in Begepalli.

[lsjey]

I'm planning on travelling to Bangalore on 9th Oct.

Start point: Pallikaranai, Chennai
Destination: Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore

I'm a very sedate driver, and need for speed is not my thing. I'm thinking of taking Walaja - Chitoor route.

Information on routes really appreciated:

1. Pallikaranai - Walaja: Which route should I take? Through mudichur or take right at Vandalur or go through Guindy- porur?
2. How is the Walaja/Ranipet - Chitoor section now? Any recent updates will help.

Regards,
lsjey

[hserus]

Originally Posted by lsjey

1. Pallikaranai - Walaja: Which route should I take? Through mudichur or take right at Vandalur or go through Guindy- porur?
2. How is the Walaja/Ranipet - Chitoor section now? Any recent updates will help.

Just see what maps tells you on exiting Chennai.

Use caution taking the Mudichur route at night as it’s a bit lonely and you have cattle etc sleeping on the road at times.

The Chittoor bypass has been worked on and the rough patches are far less than they used to be. Still don’t do those when it is dark. Later in the year watch for heavy fog on the route.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by hserus

Use caution taking the Mudichur route at night as it’s a bit lonely and you have cattle etc sleeping on the road at times..

Its by no means lonely during regular hours. There is enough traffic that you cannot overtake as and when you please.

If its in wee hours, detours never made sense pre-Covid times.

[mazda4life]

I need some advice from the frequent travellers on the Bangalore to Chennai route, we have to travel for US visa appointment on the 27th and 28th October, 27th being for Biometric at 12:30 PM and 28th for consulate interview. Will be starting from Jayanagar.
1. Which route to take , Bangalore- Krishnagiri-Chennai ?
2. Is it possible to travel on 27th morning by 4;30 AM and make it to the biometric by 12:30 PM?
3. We are fully vaccinated and do we need RTPCR?

Thanks in advance

[normaltusker]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

I need some advice from the frequent travellers on the Bangalore to Chennai route, we have to travel for US visa appointment on the 27th and 28th October, 27th being for Biometric at 12:30 PM and 28th for consulate interview. Will be starting from Jayanagar.
1. Which route to take , Bangalore- Krishnagiri-Chennai ?
2. Is it possible to travel on 27th morning by 4;30 AM and make it to the biometric by 12:30 PM?
3. We are fully vaccinated and do we need RTPCR?

Thanks in advance

If you are taking Bangalore- Krishnagiri-Chennai route, sedate driving should take you about 5.5 hours to reach Chennai. Assuming you start at 4:30 AM you should be able to comfortably reach Chennai by 10 AM give and take 30 mins. You should be able to be at the Embassy easily by 12:30 PM.

I have no comments about the RT-PCR. I was not stopped for any checks (KA Vehicle) when I travelled to Chennai and back in August.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by lsjey

I'm planning on travelling to Bangalore on 9th Oct.

Start point: Pallikaranai, Chennai
Destination: Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore

I'm a very sedate driver, and need for speed is not my thing. I'm thinking of taking Walaja - Chitoor route.

Information on routes really appreciated:

1. Pallikaranai - Walaja: Which route should I take? Through mudichur or take right at Vandalur or go through Guindy- porur?
2. How is the Walaja/Ranipet - Chitoor section now? Any recent updates will help.

Regards,
lsjey

Take the Tambaram-Mudichur-Sriperumbudur-GQ-Chittoor-Banglore. This is the best route considering your start and destination. Don't take the right immediate after Chennasamudram toll plaza on to Walajapet. Instead continue until Pinji and take the right under the flyover onto Ranipet. Road work from the Andhra border to the Chittoor Collector office is under slow pace and they are very few patches where the road is not good. Do an early morning drive to skip the container and logistics traffic. 4-4:30 AM drive will be awesome. Directions here

Originally Posted by mazda4life

I need some advice from the frequent travellers on the Bangalore to Chennai route, we have to travel for US visa appointment on the 27th and 28th October, 27th being for Biometric at 12:30 PM and 28th for consulate interview. Will be starting from Jayanagar.
1. Which route to take , Bangalore- Krishnagiri-Chennai ?
2. Is it possible to travel on 27th morning by 4;30 AM and make it to the biometric by 12:30 PM?
3. We are fully vaccinated and do we need RTPCR?

Thanks in advance

Take the krishnagiri Route. You can very well reach by 12:30 PM if you can maintain speeds of 90KMPH. RTPCR tests are not necessary

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by mazda4life

1. Which route to take , Bangalore- Krishnagiri-Chennai ?
2. Is it possible to travel on 27th morning by 4;30 AM and make it to the biometric by 12:30 PM?
3. We are fully vaccinated and do we need RTPCR?

1. Krishnagiri route.
2. Budget 6.5-7 hours. You have to leave 4-430 am. Expect heavy city traffic from Sriperumbudur
3. No vax, no RT-PCR needed assuming you are driving a KA or TN plate vehicle.