Getting to IMSc

Welcome to Chennai neé Madras, and to IMSc, the Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Here is some information on getting to the Institute. Our address and phone numbers are

THE INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
C I T CAMPUS, TARAMANI, CHENNAI 600 113
Telephone Numbers

Here are some maps to give you a rough idea of the layout of Madras and the area around the Institute.
The Institute of Mathematical Sciences is located in a campus-like area variously known as the ``CIT Campus'' or the ``CPT Campus''. Many people in Madras may not have heard of the Institute, but almost everyone would have heard of the M.G.R. Film City and Tidel Park which are further down in the same campus area. IMSc has two complexes. One houses the main Institute building, the library building and the new building. The other has the students' hostel and Guest House. These two complexes are across the road from each other.

Getting to IMSc from the airport

Chennai has one airport with the Anna international terminal and the Kamaraj domestic terminal. They are separated by a few hundred metres.
  1. The easiest way is to take a pre-paid taxi from the airport. The taxi fare is to be paid inside the terminal. You will have to give the postal address of IMSc. In principle, this should be enough, but if this is not sufficient, please point out at the prepaid counter that IMSc is about half a kilometer before TIDEL PARK which is a big electronics and software park which everyone knows. If the driver needs some more directions, this is what you need to tell him:

    From the airport, go to Raj Bhavan, drive past IIT towards Adyar, and at the Madhya Kailash Temple traffic light, turn right on to the Taramani Road. This road is now a 6-lane divided highway (also variously called IT Corrider, Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) etc.) Drive down this road, towards Film City/TIDEL PARK, for about 1.2 km upto Women's Polytechnic (WPT) bus stand. This is one of the few places where there used to be a cut in the divider for you to turn right. Since you can no longer turn right here, you will need to go all the way upto TIDEL park crossing and make a U turn and double back and turn left into the C I T Campus. Within the campus, IMSc is three buildings down this road on the left while the Hostel/Guest House Complex is facing it on the right. The total distance from IMSc to the airport is about 15 km or less.

  2. If you feel adventurous, you could take a local suburban train part of the way. There is a suburban railway station just outside the airport, called Tirusulam. From here, take a train headed towards Beach, and get off at Guindy. From Guindy station, you could take an autorickshaw to IMSc; the distance is about 5km. The autorickshaw will have to take the following route from Guindy station:

    Go to Raj Bhavan; drive past IIT towards Adyar, and then turn right on the Taramani Road at the Madhya Kailash Temple traffic light. This is also the road to the Film City/TIDEL PARK, branching off from the Adyar-IIT main road. Drive down this road, towards Film City/TIDEL PARK, go all the way upto the TIDEL Park crossing, make a U turn, and double back about 1/2 a kilometer and turn left into the C I T Campus. IMSc is the third building on the left (the Guest House/Hostel Building is facing it on the right).

Getting to IMSc from the Central railway station

  1. If an IMSc vehicle is to pick you up at Chennai Central, look for the driver in the big hall straight ahead of Platform 11, near the Higginbotham's book stall where the driver should be waiting.

  2. There are pre-paid autorickshaw and pre-paid taxi booths located near the main entrance/exit of the Central station. You have to come all the way out of the station building.

    The person in the booth will give you a token with the fare written on it and assign a driver. You actually pay the fare to the driver after you get to your destination---so the fare is pre-determined rather than pre-paid. (Sometimes they will stop at a petrol pump on the way and ask you to pay for the petrol! You pay the remaining amount at the destination.)

    Give the postal address of IMSc. If asked, specify that the institute is next to the Film Institute, and about half a kilometer before TIDEL Park.

  3. There are some bus services. And of course there are lots of (non-pre-paid) taxi and autorickshaw drivers offering their vehicles.

  4. The route the taxi or autorickshaw is most likely to take is to come south of the station onto the Beach Road and drive straight down along the Marina beach, past the Light house, across the Adyar bridge to Adyar signal. From here, proceed towards IIT and turn left onto the Taramani Road. To identify this turnoff, see the previous section. The distance along this route is a little over 16km.

    An alternative route (shorter, but with much more traffic) is to come south of the station onto Mount Road (Anna Salai), go over the Anna Flyover, turn left onto Cenotaph Road, cross the Adyar river at Kotturpuram, and reach the Raj Bhavan - Adyar road a little before IIT. Then turn left, drive past IIT and follow the instructions in the previous section. The distance on this route is about 15km.

Getting to IMSc from the Egmore railway station

Some trains terminate at Chennai Egmore station, which is roughly the same distance as Central from IMSc. There are plenty of autorickshaws and taxis at Egmore, but as yet we don't know of a pre-paid service. (See below for buses.) Trains which come from the north to Egmore will stop at Chennai Beach station, from where there is a suburban train service on weekdays only (Monday to Friday). There is no pre-paid service, but there are autorickshaws and buses.

Autorickshaws

Normal taxis are few and far between in Madras. Your best bet is the three-wheeled autorickshaw. One autorickshaw can accommodate upto three passengers. If you are staying in a hotel, you can ask the hotel to fix up an autorickshaw for you. The ride should take 20-30 minutes from most of the main hotels in town. 'Call taxis' ply on (reasonable) metered rates. You usually need to phone a call taxi company a couple of hours before the time you need the taxi to pick you up. Here are a few telephone numbers of some Call Taxi Companies that we have used.
  • Barathi Call Taxi - 2814 2233
  • Fast Track Call Taxi - 2473 2020
  • Chennai Call Taxi - 2538 4455

    Autorickshaw drivers are notorious for haggling. However, it may be easier to settle for a flat rate to avoid worrying about whether the driver is taking the optimal route!

    Buses

    If you are taking public transport, your best option is getting into the rare buses (5C, 5K, 5T and 23K) that actually come into CIT campus and stop outside the Women's Polytechnic, or WPT (2 minutes walk from IMSc).

    Your next best bet is a bus coming to Indira Nagar water tank (6D and 21D), just across the canal from WPT (5 minutes walk from IMSc). These buses are rare too.

    In practice, you are most likely to get a bus upto Adyar Depot (10 minutes walk from IMSc) or to Madhya Kailash (a good 1.5 km away from IMSc).

    Note: Adyar Depot is an entity distinct from Adyar signal or Adyar Bus Stand!

    Buses from Central railway station

    There is a good bus 1 cut (1 with a slash across) which takes you from the Central railway station to Adyar bus depot (and beyond to Tiruvanmiyur). It has certain fixed plying times, but will have extra space for luggage, cushioned seats etc. It costs Rs. 11 inclusive of luggage from Central to Adyar Bus Depot (see below). The earliest 1 cut bus to Central starts from the Depot at 4:45 a.m. After which there are buses to Central at 5:15 a.m., 6:30 a.m. going on until 8:45 p.m. The buses from Central are 30-45 minutes after these times.

    If you are feeling adventurous, you could take other buses from the station. Cross the Poonamallee High Road in front of the station and get to a long bus stop with several sections. Several buses (6A, 4C, 4) from here will get you to Adyar Bus Depot, from where the Institute is a 10-minutes-walk away. To find your way from the Depot, use the local map. If you are very lucky, you may even get a 5C bus all the way to the Women's Polytechnic bus stop. From here IMSc is just three buildings down the road.

    Buses from Egmore railway station

    Several buses (22A, 23C, 23A, 29L) from Egmore station will get you to Adyar Bus Depot (10 minutes walking from IMSc).

    Buses from Beach railway station

    One bus (6D) comes from Beach station to Indira Nagar water tank (5 minutes walking from IMSc).

    Trains

    Suburban trains ply between Chennai BEACH station and Velacheri. The journey takes 30 minutes from Central to Indira Nagar Station. The INDIRANAGAR station (the one before Tiruvanmiyur) is a few minutes' walk from IMSc. (However please do use the overbridge to cross unless youi have a death-wish!). If one is planning to catch the train for example from PARKTOWN station (the second station from Beach, which is a few minutes away from Chennai Central), one should take into account that the journey to Indiranagar will take 21 minutes.

    A PDF file of the timings.

    At Chennai Beach towards Tiruvanmiyur and Velacheri

    At Velacheri towards Chennai Beach

    Note that the above links to Southern Railway are not always very accurate.