Over 20,000 buses to be operated across TN for Deepavali, says Minister Sivasankar
Chairing a review meeting at the Secretariat on festival arrangements, he said the department has also written to the Railways seeking additional special train services to ease congestion.
CHENNAI: Transport and Electricity Minister SS Sivasankar on Monday announced that the state transport corporations will operate 20,378 buses across Tamil Nadu, including 14,268 from Chennai, between October 16 and 19 to facilitate Deepavali travel.
Chairing a review meeting at the Secretariat on festival arrangements, he said the department has also written to the Railways seeking additional special train services to ease congestion.
“Around 5,900 special buses will be operated from Chennai in addition to 2,092 regular services each day from October 16-19. Another 6,110 special services will be run from other districts, taking the total to 20,378,” Sivasankar added.
For the return after the festival, 15,129 buses, including 4,253 specials from various destinations to Chennai and 4,600 services between other key towns, will be operated from October 21-23.
Special buses from Chennai will depart from the Kilambakkam, Koyambedu and Madhavaram terminus. The MTC will run 150 link buses round the clock between Koyambedu and the other two termini to ensure smooth passenger movement.
To avoid traffic congestion on the GST road, Sivasankar said that he had instructed the Highways officials to suspend maintenance work during the festive period, and police have been asked to restrict heavy vehicle movement on peak travel days.
Transport Commissioner will soon meet Omni bus operators and police officials to address overcharging and route congestion. “Private buses have been hired to augment the government fleet, noting that last year’s trial in the Villupuram region was successful,” he stated.