Buses without conductors to Chennai cheers Velloreans

Of the 515 new buses flagged off by Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami on Tuesday, apart from the 40 buses allotted to the state express transport corporation, the rest were sanctioned for the four regional corporations. 

TNSTC Villupuram’s Vellore division was allotted 13 vehicles, of which 8 were pressed into service on Wednesday. Highly placed department sources revealed that “the buses will ply between Vellore and Chennai non-stop and without conductors. 

Tickets will be punched by conductors before passengers board the bus. There will be no stops en route to the destination in both directions.” Social activist K Sathiyamoorthy said “it is boon to long distance passengers, who were annoyed at buses being routed through Ranipet and Wallajahpet. 

One only hopes that the service will be fully functional and, in the wake of high fare being charged (Rs.130 for the Chennai-Vellore journey), the maintenance will be pucca.” Shyamlal, a trader and frequent traveller to Chennai said, “I can now be assured of reaching Vellore in time as the new service will run only via the national highway.” Officials said that “3 of the 5 buses, which we hope to see in Vellore soon, will also be used on the Chennai-Vellore route. The remaining two will be diverted to areas depending on the level of demand.”

But those from southern destinations were miffed as no SETC buses were allotted to Vellore to connect places like Madurai, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. At present, omni buses with sleeper facilities make a killing charging over Rs1,000 for journeys to southern towns. The SETC has no such facility and trains to the south from Vellore were also limited in numbers. SETC officials were not available for comment.