Chennai, Oct 23:
The State Transport Corporations will operate 2,725 special buses from October 23 to 25 to manage the expected increase in passenger traffic during the weekend, which coincides with auspicious muhurtham dates and Pournami.
The special services are intended to help passengers travelling from Chennai and other major cities to their hometowns and pilgrimage centres. The State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) said additional buses would be deployed from major bus terminals to meet the demand.
From the Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus at Kilambakkam, 775 special buses will operate on Friday, October 23, and another 485 on Saturday, October 24. The services will connect passengers with destinations including Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi, Coimbatore, Salem, Erode and Tirupur.
At the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus in Koyambedu, 95 special buses will be operated on Friday and 85 on Saturday. These services will cover Nagapattinam, Velankanni, Hosur and Bengaluru. In addition, 250 special buses will operate to Tiruvannamalai on Sunday, October 25, anticipating a rise in pilgrim traffic.
Another 100 special buses will run from Bengaluru, Tirupur, Erode and Coimbatore to various destinations. From the Madhavaram bus terminus, 65 special buses will be operated on each of the two days, Friday and Saturday, to Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy, Kumbakonam, Vellore, Hosur and Puducherry.
To facilitate return journeys to Chennai and Bengaluru, 805 special buses will be operated from various parts of the State on Sunday, depending on passenger demand.
Transport officials have been deployed at major bus terminals to monitor the operation of the additional services and assist passengers. Authorities are expecting further bookings as the weekend approaches.
According to the SETC managing director, 12,884 passengers had booked tickets for Friday, 9,086 for Saturday and 16,922 for Sunday as of the latest update. The booking figures were expected to increase.
Passengers have been advised to reserve tickets in advance through the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation’s mobile application or its official website, www.tnstc.in, to avoid last-minute inconvenience and secure seats on their preferred services.