CHENNAI: Chennai: In anticipation of increased travel demand due to the upcoming muhurthams (wedding dates) on May 9 and 10, the weekend, and Chitra Pournami festival on (May 11-12, the State Transport Undertakings have announced the operation of special bus services across the State.

According to the MD of State Express Transport Corporation, a large number of travellers are expected to commute between Chennai and various destinations, including Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy, Nagapattinam, Velankanni, Hosur, Bengaluru, Erode, Coimbatore, and others. To accommodate this surge, hundreds of special buses will supplement the regular services.

From the Kilambakkam terminal, 650 and 665 special buses will be operated on May 9 and 10 respectively. From the Koyambedu terminal, 100 buses on May 9, and 90 buses on May 10 will run to key destinations. From Madhavaram, 24 and 100 buses will operate on May 9 and 10 respectively. Additionally, 250 buses will be operated from Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Erode, and Tirupur.

On May 11, around 950 special buses will bring people back to Chennai and Bengaluru from various hometowns. Advance bookings show 11,841 travellers on Friday, 7,385 on Saturday, and 11,070 on Sunday, with further surge in numbers expected.

For Chitra Pournami, which starts on the evening of May 11 and continues until May 12 night, over 3,400 special buses will run to Tiruvannamalai. From Kilambakkam alone, 1,156 buses on May 11 and 966 on May 12 are scheduled. Additional buses will run from Madhavaram and other towns. Forty air-conditioned seater-cum-sleeper buses will also operate from Kilambakkam on May 11 and 12.

Officials have been deployed at major bus terminals to ensure smooth operations.

Pre-book tickets via www.tnstc.in or the TNSTC mobile app to avoid congestion.