CHENNAI: Transport Minister SS Sivasankar on Sunday said that a record number of 4,446 buses from Chennai carrying 2.38 lakh passengers on Saturday to their native places to celebrate Pongal festival.

"In the state, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporations operate 20,084 buses. Of them, 9,620 are town buses and 10,464 are inter-district route buses. On Saturday, the corporations operated a total of 4,446 buses out of the 10,464 buses from Chennai to cater to the travelling needs of the passengers leaving for their native places for the Pongal festival, " he said in a statement.

He said that on average, 1.5 lakh to two lakh passengers travel out of the city during the Deepavali and Pongal festivals.

"For this year's Pongal festival, in the last two days, 4.34 lakh passengers travelled on the buses. Due to this, there was a delay in the passengers travelling to their native places, " he said.

The minister noted that the number of passengers reserving their seats has gone up.

"This year 1.44 lakh passengers booked their tickets which is 23,000 more compared to last year, " he said. The transport corporation managing directors are monitoring the operation of the special buses.

The Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus (KCBT) at Kilambakkam, which was overflowing with passengers on Saturday, looked deserted on Sunday even though special bus operations continued for the third day.

MTC operated small bus shuttle services between KCBT and Vandalur suburban railway station for the convenience of passengers reaching the terminus using the EMU services.