Packers and Movers from Bangalore to Chennai

The highway from Bangalore to Chennai

The distance is about 330 km. The fastest road route leaves Bangalore to the east and uses NH75 for roughly 110 km, NH48 for about 90 km and around 70 km of NE7, the new Bangalore-Chennai Expressway. NE7 is still being finished in places, so depending on which sections are open when you move, the driver may stay on the older highways for longer.

For such a short trip it crosses three states. You pass near Kolar around the 80 km mark, cut across a slice of Andhra Pradesh, then enter Tamil Nadu and run near Vellore at about 160 km and Kanchipuram at about 250 km. Along the way the road comes down off the Deccan plateau to the coastal plain, from Bangalore's mild air into Chennai's heat and humidity, and that change matters more for your belongings than any slope does. Most of the delays on this move happen inside the two cities, not on the highway.

How long does the move actually take?

Four hours of driving sounds like a same-day job, and once in a while it is. More often the move spreads over 1–2 days because of what happens at each end.

• Bangalore loading. Most apartment associations allow moving only in daytime slots, so a 2BHK loaded from a tower tends to leave in the afternoon or evening.
• City exits and entries. Heavy trucks face time limits inside both cities, and crossing either one at the wrong hour can take longer than the highway.
• Chennai unloading. Reaching a society on OMR late in the evening usually means waiting for the next morning's slot anyway.

The usual pattern is packing the day before, loading and driving on moving day, and unloading the following morning. If both societies are relaxed about timing and the load is small, a dedicated truck can load in the morning and unload the same evening. Either way, plan your own travel so you're at the Chennai flat before the truck.

Part load or a dedicated truck on a short corridor

This is one of the busiest moving corridors in the south, with a steady flow of IT job changes both ways, so part-load trucks tend to fill faster here than on quieter routes. A shared truck suits a 1BHK, a bachelor flat or a few pieces of furniture when a day or two either way doesn't matter. Your goods share space with other customers' things, and the truck may stop at other Chennai addresses before yours.

For a family flat, a dedicated truck is usually the better call. Your things are the only load, nobody else's cartons sit on your sofa, and the timing follows your lift bookings rather than someone else's. Packed into our lockable Trucking Cube, the household load stays shut until you open it in Chennai.

Tolls, papers and a Karnataka car

Tolls are paid by FASTag, and the new expressway stretches are tolled as well. A household move for personal use doesn't normally need a GST e-way bill, but the driver should carry the packing list, and you should keep a copy with a photo ID. Cars need a bit more planning.

• Cars go on a carrier, with copies of the RC, insurance and PUC handed over at loading.
• Karnataka collects road tax for a car's whole life upfront. Once the car is re-registered in Tamil Nadu, ask the Karnataka RTO about claiming back the unused part.
• If you work for the government, or for a private company with offices in four or more states, you may qualify for a BH series number instead.
• Bikes travel on our Bike Stand, strapped by both tyres.

There's more on the car transport page.

Two monsoons and a jump in humidity

Bangalore gets most of its rain from the southwest monsoon, roughly June to September, and heavy spells often carry on into October. Chennai's big rains come later, with the northeast monsoon from October to December. So an October or November move can meet rain at both ends, with a downpour while loading in Bangalore and waterlogged streets while unloading in Chennai. We put waterproof sheets over mattresses and sofas as standard in those months, and it's worth keeping a spare day in hand.

The other change is humidity. Goods packed in Bangalore's cooler, drier air arrive in a city where damp gets into everything, especially near the sea. Unpack leather bags, shoes, wooden instruments and books within a few days, and tuck silica gel sachets into wardrobes. Give the fridge a few upright hours to settle before you plug it in. Chennai is also very hot from April to June, so crews unload early in the day.

Getting out of Bangalore and into Chennai

Because the route leaves Bangalore to the east along Old Madras Road, homes in KR Puram, Whitefield, Indiranagar and CV Raman Nagar are the easy starts. From Electronic City, Kanakapura Road or Rajajinagar the truck crosses the city first, and that part can take longer than the first 80 km of highway. Your association's move-out rules still apply, and our Bangalore page walks through them.

Chennai is approached from the west on NH48, so Porur, Maduravoyal, Ambattur and Anna Nagar come up quickly. OMR addresses like Sholinganallur and Siruseri are on the far side, and a truck headed there either goes through the city or around it on the Outer Ring Road, which adds time. In low-lying parts of the city a heavy shower can put water on the ground floor, so during the rains we stack cartons on furniture rather than straight on the floor. The Chennai page covers society rules there.

See the full Bangalore to Chennai charges breakdown