A total of 25 ticket counters were opened at the Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus (CMBT) in Koyambedu on Tuesday to aid travel during Deepavali.
State transport minister V. Senthil Balaji opened the counters, which are situated on the left side of CMBT’s lobby.
“Earlier, the booking counters were spread across the bus terminus. Passengers can book tickets to any district from any of the 25 counters,” said a senior transport department official.
Thousands of residents travel from Chennai to other districts and States every day and the numbers touches 50,000 during festivals. Due to the heavy rush experienced in recent years, the government has also announced special buses to and from Chennai.
Venkateswaran, a resident of Velachery, was seen at booking counter number 12 immediately after the inauguration, booking a ticket to Trichy. “This new system is comfortable as there are many counters. The counters get crowded during the evenings so I came here in the morning,” he said.
The patronage for the online ticket reservation system for State transport corporation buses has also shown a rise during festivals. Statistics for last year, provided by the transport department, show the highest number of tickets booked in a day using the system was 37,815 and revenue of Rs. 1.16 crore was earned. “This year for Deepavali, so far 44,200 tickets have been booked in a day and the revenue from the sales was Rs. 1.34 crore,” said the official.
For passengers going to other districts from Chennai, a total of 4,300 special buses will be operated from CMBT between October 29 and November 5. A total of 8,350 special buses will be operated in other districts. The Metropolitan Transport Corporation will also be operating 200 special buses for this festive season.
