Transport corporation’s special fleet makes festive travel easy

To avoid congestion, the State Transport Department had announced special buses and had set up four temporary bus shelters to handle the large number of passengers. However, most passengers were unaware of the special arrangements and had to approach CMBT staff for further guidance. The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), which announced 200 special link buses played the main role in transporting passengers to the respective bus stands. 

On their part, an official from Regional Transport Office said, “We had formed special squads to check whether omni bus operators were conforming to safety norms laid down by the government and to ensure that they were not overcharging passengers. We also inspected buses operated by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and State Express Transport Corporation (SETC).” The official added, “Starting this year, the Transport department had established four temporary bus stands and four special squads were created to conduct inspections as per a court order.” 

Meanwhile, the CMBT bus stand witnessed a sea of people on Thursday, which led to traffic congestion in and around the terminus. Police personnel had a tough time in regulating the traffic at CMBT, Perungalathur, Tambaram and in nearby places. M Kalimuthu, a hotel employee and who had to return home to Cuddalore to celebrate Deepavali said, “I was unaware of the temporary bus stands and I was searching for Cuddalore-bound buses at the terminus. 

When I approached the control room, I was directed to proceed to Arumbakkam’s State Election Commission’s premise,” he said. Similarly, many passengers had a hard time finding buses heading to their native places, as they were not aware of the special provisions that were made to handle the festival rush. Adequate staff were posted to handle the special counters at the bus stands to guide and help commuters and regulate bus traffic.

Large crowds were seen at Egmore and Central railway stations on Thursday as the Southern Railway had announced special trains to various places including Coimbatore, Tiruchy and Nagercoil to clear the rush. The Southern Railway launched advance reservation system on November 1. The unreserved compartments in all the trains were jampacked and people occupied every inch of the available space.