Chennai Central to Spencer Plaza (Anna Salai)

How do I get to Spencer Plaza on Anna Salai road from Chennai Central Railway station. I guess the easiest option is prepaid taxi but is the bus service good? Could anyone give me the bus numbers, frequency and any 'to dos' list?

Don't know about bus routes, but unless you have a lot of luggage, an autorickshaw will be the best option. Not all that far.

Be prepared to haggle like hell at the railway station. I would pay around 50 rupees, I think, but maybe somebody from Chennai can help better.

oh yeah, there are plenty of buses. you just need to cross the road (via subway) and take a bus from the opposite side of central.

Just ask anyone for buses going to TVS. you can get one within a couple of minutes. will cost you 3 bucks

Maybe the buses have improved since I was there quite a number of years ago - they looked terrifying to me! Dilapidated and crowded. How you would manage to leap on and off with your luggage is beyond my imagination - maybe things have changed in this century!
I'd say go for the auto rickshaw too.

^^ improved by a whole lot, now we have even automatic doors

most of the buses look like this now
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e_line_bus.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai_MTC

its still jam packed during peak hours no doubt, but its great otherwise.

heres a map of the central station area. you need to get to the bus stop in front of general hospital
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1137/mapts8.png
taken from the public transport thread
Public Transport in Chennai

Wow! that's a huge improvement - they are the same type of bus we have in New Zealand.
Thanks for posting those pics, PlaneMad. I have if you noticed re-formatted them into links - we don't have largish pictures here on the posts. You can post them as thumbnails however.

I took a bus once in Chennai.

Felt more like a swim in the humidity.

LOL, Captain - I can just imagine it!

The Chennai buses have not improved! Take an auto.

PlaneMad, to foreigners, a buck is (I think) a dollar, not a rupee. I think it is shame that the Indian currency got an American nickname, but my sensibilities aside, it is confusing to visitors

You will have to cross the road from Chennai Central and take a bus from the opposite side. If i remember correctly, Bus Number 18 and 11 series go to Spencer Plaza from Central Station. You can check with the conductor before you board the bus. Buses have improved recently... but it can still be very crowded. Its better to take an auto rickshaw or a prepaid cab.

Thank you All!

Thank you All! It's amazing that one question resulted in so much help and so many valid perspectives. Thank you!

I guess I will go by PLaneMad (bus) because of the following reasons:

1. I just have one light-weight back-pack & I don't have to rush
2. I'm 28
3. I'm arriving on Saturday 12:00 pm, hopefully less crowd
4. I'm paying off a home-loan and Rs. 47 is good money saved (Rs. 50 for auto minus Rs. 3 for bus)
5. My Rs. 3, however little, is going to the govt. and it needs money to fund the various infrastructure projects.
6. I guess autos in Chennai haggle a lot and that's one burden less, especially when Chennai, I heard as a, 'no Hindi' city. Other than this and the heat, I still like Chennai, for the amount of revenue it generates through the IT industry .

Again, thank you all and thanks Karan for the bus numbers. It is good to be independent and knowledge supports independence and bus numbers is knowledge.

Thank you!

Autos from the station (Or from SPencers, they'll be even worse there) will haggle for several times the real fare (whatever that is, they don't use meters here).

On the other hand, Chennai bus drivers kill people...

Ahh... life is full of tough decisions!

Enjoy your shopping

Nick, chennai bus drivers kill people outside the bus. you are safer inside a bus than an auto with a bus following behind

Btw, if you are lucky you could get an ac volvo bus from right outside the entrance of central station. Closest bus stop to spencer plaza is TVS bus stop. It will be written in english on the route boards, so its pretty simple to spot.

heres a nice map of the spencer plaza area

and karan is right, take the 1B,11,18,52,54,60 series buses, confirm just in case