It’s a fight residents of Rangarajapuram are not give up on. Commuters of M11A, which shuttles between Rangarajapuram and Velavan Nagar, are upset about the decreasing frequency of bus service.
M11A is operated twice a day from Rangaragapuram, at 8.10 a.m. and later at 9.10 a.m. A month ago, Metropolitan Transport Corporation stopped both the services. When commuters complained about this, the service was restored. But, the bus does not operate on weekends and on public holidays.
“If either the driver or conductor is off duty on a weekday, no service is available on that day. And we get to know this only after coming to the bus stand,” says V. Sathyamurthy, who works as an executive engineer at TANGEDCO on Anna Salai. He says commuters have to go to Liberty Bus Stop (Meenakshi College bus stop) or to West Mambalam to catch the next bus.
Commuters say Rangarajapuram is an important residential locality, close to Panagal Park, with many students, lawyers and corporate professionals depending on these two services. M11A is the only bus that comes to the stop it is therefore unfair to reduce its frequency. “Many a time, we realise there is no service after we get to the stop,” says T.M. Padmapriya, employed at a corporate firm on Anna Salai and who is a commuter on this bus route since 2002.
Many other regular passengers say the bus is filled to at Rangarajapuram itself, and poor collection cannot be cited as a reason for reducing the number of services.
The Branch Manager of Vysarpadi Bus Depot said the representation has been forwarded to the MTC head office.
