The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : New routes, old problems

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

New routes, old problems

J. Malarvizhi and T. Madhavan

Commuters regularly complain about pricing of tickets on deluxe services

. — Photo: A.Muralitharan

Well designed: One of the recently launched MTC buses

CHENNAI: The recent introduction of buses to Sriperumbudur and Chengalpattu has been welcomed by commuters. While most buses run routinely full, commuters complain about the pricing of tickets on the large number of deluxe services plying on these routes, conductors say.

The Sriperumbudur bus stand receives two buses from Tambaram, two from Kundrathur, four from Broadway, two from T. Nagar and three from Thiruvanmiyur every day. Six buses ply towards Chengalpattu from the T. Nagar bus terminus and two more from Mandaveli.

Commuters who had to take the train or change buses earlier at Tambaram or other points such as Guduvanchery can now head straight to Chengalpattu on fairly good roads in about the same time it would take by train in off-peak hours. As Pongal was approaching, route No. 500 service proved useful for commuters such as E. Varadarajan of Chengalpattu who came to shop in T. Nagar with his wife and three daughters on Monday . Laden with plastic bags of leading textile merchants in the Panagal Park area, he was grateful to have a direct bus back home in the afternoon.

However, he was cheated in the morning, he complained. He had been charged Rs.23 per ticket, when the fare was Rs.21 for the deluxe bus. The conductor said that conductors themselves were confused with the introduction of deluxe, express and other services. It is not surprising that we get our fares wrong, he added.

A trip between Sriperumbudur and Broadway by a luxury MTC service would cost Rs.15, while it is Rs.11 for the express bus.

J. K. Rajesh of Iyyappanthangal said these services were helpful for engineering college students on Chennai-Bangalore Highway. He also suggested that these services be operated as express services instead of deluxe services to help daily wage earners. Most services reach the Sriperumbudur terminus late in the morning, according to many. Currently, a large group of office-goers still depend on State Transport Corporation buses in the morning.A timekeeper’s role in regulating long-distance buses is limited as many drivers complain of traffic snarls at various points.

The timekeeper at Sriperumbudur has not been provided with a bunk and he sits in a tea shop. Given no communication gadgets, he could not answer commuters about when the next bus to a particular area would come.

The Chengalpattu route should have more ordinary buses, a conductor said.

A large number of commuters found the bus as useful as the train service and they should be given a pricing advantage. According to officials, breakdowns during trips would be attended immediately.

Mobile units would be in operation throughout the day to attend these calls.

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