The Tamil Nadu government’s popular free travel scheme for women has now been extended to include 130 newly introduced luxury blue buses in metropolitan areas.
The existing scheme, which allows women to travel for free in city buses, has been in effect across Tamil Nadu. Initially, it was implemented in over 7,300 ordinary fare buses out of the 9,000 city buses operated by the state’s transport corporations. In Chennai alone, women have been availing this benefit in 1,559 ordinary fare buses.
Women are already allowed to travel for free in “white board” buses in urban areas and city buses in rural regions. On average, more than 5 million women benefit from this scheme daily across the state.
In a recent development, the scheme has been expanded to include the newly launched luxury blue buses in Chennai.
Regarding this, officials from the Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) stated:
“The free travel scheme for women in ordinary fare buses has received an overwhelming response, leading to a significant increase in ridership. Therefore, we have now extended this scheme to the 130 newly added luxury blue buses as well.”
These buses are named Magalir Vidiyal Payanam (Women’s Dawn Journey). Initially introduced as luxury buses, they are now being operated with ordinary fare structures to accommodate the free travel scheme for women.
This expansion is not limited to Chennai alone; similar services are being rolled out in cities such as Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tirunelveli, where the luxury blue Magalir Vidiyal buses are gaining popularity.
However, the scheme has not been extended to red luxury buses or air-conditioned buses, officials added.