Ondhu Foodie Travels

There are so many ways to travel to Chennai from the city of Bengaluru. You can take the flight, which is less than 70 – 80 minutes of duration, however getting to the airport in Bengaluru itself is a task and can take way more time than expected, maybe a four to five hours affair from the city to the airport and finally landing in Chennai. You can drive down to Chennai as well, which would take you a good six to seven hours, depending on how many breaks you would take in between. The bus is another option as well, the journey is once again just five to six hours but sometimes this is more expensive than a train or a flight and that is one of the biggest disadvantages, apart from the budget, sometimes one may not be comfortable in a bus, the seats may not be good, rash driving, sleeper coaches not that great and the lack of a bathroom is a downer as well.

If you ask me, taking the train is by far the best thing to do especially if you are travelling from Bengaluru to Chennai and vice versa. All one must do is go to the IRCTC website and book their tickets. There are many options available here but the Shatabdi Express is by far one of the best options that I came across for my journey. It is fast, convenient, comfortable, not expensive, and it does not even take more than six hours to complete the journey.

You have either one or two Shatabdi trains per day leaving from Bengaluru to Chennai. I would suggest you take the morning one, which is around 5:30 or 6:00 AM. Yes, it may disturb the sleep but sitting in an AC chamber with comfortable seats and not having to stand even for a minute is worth it all. The main reason why I chose the train over the flight was not because of the money, but mainly because I had to spend some time in Chennai before leaving to Sri Lanka which was a red eye flight. So, the more time on train meant lesser time to roam around in the city and just get on with the plan as it is.

In the Shatabdi, you will be offered breakfast, lunch, and dinner depending on the time of your train. I was offered the breakfast, where I got a sandwich, an omelette, a cup of tea, a cookie, and a chocolate. This was because I had chosen the non-veg meal while selecting my ticket, you can choose the veg meal as well and you would get something instead of the omelette, like a poha, upma, Pongal or so. The food is completely fresh out of the oven types and you feel satisfied with the amount they provide, not less and not more.

Keeping your luggage in the train is not a tough task either. There is enough space provided for everyone for any number of bags that they are carrying, and this is a huge advantage as there is no way the luggage can be a hindrance for you.

Please be there on time, because the trains depart on time and will never want to delay. It is not just you who is travelling but so many others, if they can be on time then I am sure you can be there as well. The Bengaluru SBC is very clean, the staff there are helpful, and the security check is very fast as well. Be sure you know the platform number and ask the officials to direct you there so that you do not waste time searching for the platform. They have an app as well, download it and be updated about the status of your train regularly.