CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Transport Undertakings will operate 5,400 special buses from Thursday (September 10) to Monday (September 14) to meet the expected increase in passenger demand ahead of Vinayaka Chaturthi, muhurtham dates and the weekend.
From Kilambakkam terminus, 585 special buses will be operated on Thursday, 1,255 on Friday, 1,030 on Saturday and 650 on Sunday to Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi, Coimbatore, Salem, Erode and Tirupur.
From Koyambedu, 240 special buses each will operate on Friday and Saturday, and 105 on Sunday, to Tiruvannamalai, Nagapattinam, Velankanni, Hosur and Bengaluru. Services will also be operated from these destinations towards Chennai. Another 200 special buses will be operated from Bengaluru, Tirupur, Erode and Coimbatore to various destinations.
From Madhavaram terminus, 110 special buses will be operated each day from Friday to Sunday to Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy, Kumbakonam, Vellore, Hosur and Puducherry. To facilitate the return journey to Chennai and Bengaluru on Monday, 765 special buses will be operated from various locations based on passenger demand.
According to the Managing Director of the State Express Transport Corporation, 8,666 passengers have booked tickets for Thursday, 32,171 for Friday, 18,772 for Saturday, 11,177 for Sunday and 23,740 for Monday. The numbers are expected to increase further.
Long-distance passengers have been advised to book their tickets in advance through www.tnstc.in or the TNSTC mobile app to avoid overcrowding.