Options to Commute to Work In Chennai

I live in Choolaimedu in Chennai.  I work at Ramanujam IT Park near Tidel Park in Taramani Chennai.  It's roughly 13km in distance, per Google Maps.  On the first day of my job I commuted to work in Fastrack Taxi.  It took me roughly 45 mins to reach my office during the peak traffic hours.  It costed me Rs.350 including the driver tips.  If I were to use the Fastrack taxi service everyday for my commute to work it would cost me roughly Rs.750 per day and Rs.15,000 for 20 working days in a month.  The biggest advantage of going by cab is that I could read a book during the entire travel time and there is no smoke or pollution issue in a a/c cab.  I commuted using the Fastrack for the first few days but I knew that this is not an economical solution in the long run.  I could rather buy a new car and commute to work.

Once I tried commuting by auto to back home.  It took me 45 minutes to come home.  But, I loathed the pollution and congestion.  On top of it, I was not able to read a book during the journey.  It costed me Rs.180.  Definitely travelling by auto is not an option for everyday commute to work.

I then contemplated about going by a/c PTC bus ( govt bus ) to office but then I thought it's not worth the effort as it would be a long journey with all the stops in between.  Also If I don't get a seat to sit I would be tired by the time I reach office. So I skipped trying this option.  Someone suggested that I could take the suburban electric train from Nungambakkam Station near Choolaimedu to Gundy Station.  And then from the Guindy station, I could take a share auto to work.  Again, going by share auto or any auto in general in the traffic and pollution is not a great idea to me.  I would rather spend the few extra bucks to go by an A/C taxi to work avoiding all the pollution.

Then I talked to my sister one day and she suggested that I should explore the option of going by local electric train/MRTS from Nungambakkam Station near Choolaimedu to Fort Station and from the Fort Station catch the MRTS train coming from the Beach Station to go to Thiruvanmiyur MRTS station near Tidel Park.  From the Thiruvanmiyur Station I could walk to my office.

I tried it the next day and it appeared to be the best alternative to the taxi service.  It took me exactly 1 hour and 15 mins from the doorstep in my home to my office seat.  Moreover, it was consistently the same everyday.  It costed me just 10 bucks, yeah! believe me,10 bucks, dirt cheap.  To my surprise, the MRTS train had hardly any crowd.  So most of the seats were empty.  On top of it there is no pollution or traffic congestion when travelling by train.  The MRTS provided me the best ambiance to read a book while travelling.  From then on, I decided to use the local electric train to work.  I would compare this service to the VTA Train Service in the Valley - very economical, pollution free,  congestion free, arrives on time and the train frequency is very good.  They also have a 3 month train pass which costs you little less than Rs.300.

I highly recommend the electric train option to anyone who wants to travel to Taramani area from anywhere within the Chennai City.