CHENNAI: The vintage styled bus service, Chennai Ula, launched by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), had hit the road on Saturday, turning heads and drew curious first-time riders as it began operations across the city.
By noon, nearly 50 students from Kerala were waiting at Dr MGR Chennai Central railway station to board the bus and visit Government Museum in Egmore. However, their in-charge staff instructed the students to wait while buying tickets.
She saw the ad and waited for ‘the ride’. “We came here to tour the city, and it’s fitting to travel like this, right?” the teacher smiled.
Much like them, several passengers boarded the bus out of interest rather than necessity. At Valluvar Kottam, Venkatesh, who had been waiting for a regular bus to reach Egmore, made a spontaneous ‘wow’ when the vintage bus arrived at the stop and decided to get on instead. “I have all the time. It’s okay if I arrive late,” he said.
Families, too, appeared to find the Hop-On Hop-Off (HoHo) tourist bus service both practical and flexible. Lalitha, who boarded the bus at the Egmore Museum stop with her three children, said they were among the first passengers of the day. Their journey began at 10 am from Chennai Central. “We came to the museum first, and now we’re heading to the beach,” she said, adding that the ride made it easier to plan the day.
Several parents echoed similar views, noting that the service connects many of the places they typically visit with children over weekends. The Chennai Ula service operates along a 30-km circular route covering 17 locations. Beginning at Central station, it passes through Egmore station, War Memorial, Semmozhi Poonga, Marina Beach, and Valluvar Kottam, among other key stops. The buses, refurbished to give out the retro styling inspired by the 1980s, have an onboard audio system, which plays short historical snippets as the bus passes major landmarks. It does draw the attention of adolescents, even if younger children appear less engaged.
Passengers who chose to remain on board for the entire circuit said the journey took close to two hours. Others used the hop-on, hop-off format to get down at landmarks and rejoin a later service. The flat fare of Rs 50, a fresh change of looks do draw the curiosity among the travellers though some board in and later hop-off thinking it as a regular MTC service.
“It has a stipulated route that covers major destinations, we believe there won’t be an issue of a dry run,” noted a conductor.
Five such buses are in operation, running at intervals of around 30 minutes. They run from 10 am to 10 pm on weekends and public holidays, and from 4 pm to 10 pm on weekdays.