CHENNAI: Frustrated by long waits at bus stops followed by the arrival of multiple buses together, MTC passengers have once again taken to social media to highlight the recurring problem of bus bunching across several city routes and question the effectiveness of the corporation’s monitoring system.
Commuters pointed out that the issue continues despite MTC having GPS-based tracking facilities that allow officials to monitor the real-time movement of buses.
They argued that better operational control could help maintain scheduled intervals and prevent buses from running in clusters. On Tuesday, commuter Rajasekar shared a screenshot from the MTC Chennai mobile application’s map view showing multiple 6D buses plying one behind another.
Calling bus bunching a “recurring disease”, he questioned how MTC planned to address the issue, which he said was damaging the corporation’s reputation and eroding passenger trust. “Will officials responsible for operations at the Tiruvanmiyur and Tollgate depots be questioned over the recurring lapses?” he asked.
In response, MTC Chennai said that the operational data and deployment at the terminals would be reviewed. It stated that the issue would be examined with depot and operations teams, and that corrective measures would be taken to improve service regularity and maintain proper headway between buses.
Another commuter, Matthew, said that bus bunching continued unabated on route 147C. “Four buses were dispatched from a depot without proper timing control. This is gross mismanagement,” he fumed. “Why have repeated complaints failed to bring about any change?
Matthew also called for action against officials at the Ambattur Estate depot and suggested redistributing buses among depots to improve operations.
Similar concerns were raised by Liju J, who complained about services on route 26A between Iyyappanthangal and Royapuram. “Passengers were left waiting for more than 30 minutes before several buses arrived together. Such issues on the route began only a month ago,” he pointed out, and urged the corporation to take corrective action.
On Monday, social media user @jokerfunda123 claimed that 6 buses operating on routes 29C and T29C towards Besant Nagar and Tiruvanmiyur crossed Purasawalkam stop within 5 minutes of each other, describing it as one of the worst examples of service irregularity.
Passengers noted that while the affected routes differed, the pattern remained the same: prolonged waiting periods followed by multiple buses arriving together, leading to overcrowding, uneven passenger distribution and unreliable journey times.
For all the complaints, MTC Chennai issued a largely similar response, stating that the issue had been noted and would be brought to the attention of the concerned depot officials. The corporation said necessary steps would be taken to regulate service intervals and minimise bus bunching to ensure more reliable and timely services for commuters.