A direct flight from Hyderabad to Chennai typically takes about an hour and twenty minutes - more of course if there are layovers involved. But mind you,
the 1 hour-20 minutes here, covering the 521 kilometre aerial journey, strictly refers to air travel time. In reality, even the shortest distance covered via flights inevitably turns into a half-day (or longer) effort, something any airport regular can confirm. However, if the developing bullet train network of India is anything to go by, short haul flights could very well become more of an inconvenience as opposed to an exercise in time efficiency. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently, specially pointed out the proposed high-speed rail corridors between Hyderabad and other metro cities such as Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune.
Rail Travel in South India is Up for a Revolutionisation
The Hyderabad to Chennai bullet train corridor gets the spotlight here. As per a Telangana Today report, if projections are to be believed, travel time via rail between the two cities could cap off at 2 hours and 55 minutes. For context, rail time between Hyderabad and Chennai as of this moment, takes over 12 hours, making the bullet train projections appear dreamily good. Not just tourists, when put into place, the significantly shortened travel time would be of great significance to out-station student, business professionals and the like, given the swift commute time between two major South Indian metro cities.Other bullet train corridors from Hyderabad in the news as of now, are Hyderabad-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Pune. For the former, a normal train journey tends to take over 8 hours. The bullet train corridor promises to cut travel time down to 2 hours and 8 minutes. For the latter, typical travel time exceeds the 8 hours mark as well. The proposed bullet train corridor could slash travel time down to just and hour and 55 minutes.
