Hopping link buses, hours-long journey, rue passengers

CHENNAI: It is sprawling, looks swanky and boasts of several amenities for the passengers. However, the journey from the city to the newly opened Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus (KCBT) in Kilambakkam to board outstation buses is long and arduous, complained several passengers.

People from various parts of the city, particularly from North Chennai, have to face the ordeal of changing different modes of transport or catching two buses, all of which would take a long time, to reach the new terminus. The only ones who are happy over the shifting of long-distance bus operations to Kilambakkam are those living in the southern parts of the city.

Saravanan, who underwent treatment in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), lamented that it took him more than two hours to reach the Kilambakkam terminus. “Unaware of the opening of the new terminus, I took a bus to CMBT from Central. From there, I had to take another bus to Kilambakkam to board a Coimbatore-bound bus. I felt completely exhausted by the time I reached the bus terminus after a couple of hours of journey,” he said.

The State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) started operating its buses bound for southern districts and GST Road via Tindivanam from KCBT on December 31. Buses of the other six Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) divisions and omnibuses would shift operations to the new terminus after the Pongal festival.

However, many passengers are not aware of the shifting bus services to the new terminus and new bus routes introduced by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC). Though the MTC runs direct bus services from KCBT to 30 destinations across the city and its suburbs, there is no direct bus connecting Tondiarpet, Tiruvottiyur, Manali and Ennore. K Raja and two friends had to take an auto-rickshaw to Kilambakkam from Avadi, which cost them Rs 460 for the ride. “We are going to Sabarimala. When we reached the Avadi bus terminus, the MTC bus to Kilambakkam was not available. So we have no other option but to take an auto-rickshaw,” he said.

There indeed are some who are happy about the new terminus being located in Kilambakkam. Welcoming it, Gnanasekaran, a resident of Medavakkam, said, “We used to board buses at Perungalathur to my native Kumbakonam. The new terminus also looks very modern with all the necessary basic amenities.”

Karthik Sivan, a passenger who arrived from Tirunelveli on a SETC bus, criticised the government’s move to shift bus operation to Kilambakkam, as it was far away from the city.

“It took me over 90 minutes to reach Vadapalani from the new terminus on the MTC bus. This new terminus will only reduce the number of long-distance buses entering the city centre. Instead, the people getting off those buses are going to come back to the city by MTC buses, autos and cabs. Vehicles are going to come back to central parts of Chennai. Not sure how this will reduce traffic congestion. At least, the new terminus should have been opened after extending the Metro Rail to Kilambakkam from Airport,” he wrote in his Facebook post.

Sethuraman, a resident of Velachery, pointed out that most buses operated by the MTC from the new terminus were deluxe-fare buses. “MTC should operate normal-fare buses from the terminus and also allow passengers to carry luggage without tickets,” he said.

An MTC official said that at present, the corporation operates 4,100 trips from the new terminus to various destinations in and around the city to provide last-mile connectivity to passengers. “We will improve the services here based on the passengers’ demand and feedback,” the official added.