CHENNAI: Commuters waiting for bus at Palani were in for a bewildering experience after a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus that rolled into the bus stand sported the digital route board in - wait for it - Chinese!
The name board plays a vital role in helping commuters, especially during night time, as it is clear and bright and thus helps them understand the route and stoppages.
But that was not to be the case of a bus (TN 57 N 2410) operating from Dindigul to Pollachi that arrived at the bus stand in Palani.
According to a Daily Thanthi report, the board had Chinese language characters.
Confused by this, commuters were unsure if it was indeed the Dindigul-Pollachi they were waiting for, and whether it would stop at the place where they wanted to alight.
The report added that the software used to operate the digital board is made in China. There have reportedly been cases where the board initially has words in Chinese language and the bus crew will have to change the settings to have the display in Tamil.
In this case, however, the driver and conductor of the bus turned on the digital board but left it as it was without changing the language setting from Chinese to Tamil causing the confusion, said a State Transport Corporation official.