In a move aimed at decongesting Koyambedu bus terminus, a new facility for long-distance buses will come up at Vandalur near the city.
To be built by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), the new terminus will facilitate more bus services to the southern districts of the State. Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus (CMBT), also a CMDA project, will continue to function, an official said.
In a suo motu statement made in the Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said, at present, more than 50 per cent of the buses from CMBT were operated between Chennai and these districts.
The new terminus will come up near Vandalur railway station — between GST Road and Outer Ring Road. “It will ease congestion at CMBT and help in the smooth and easy flow of traffic,” she said.
The Chief Minister said the contract carriage terminus from where private buses were operated and the wholesale market at Koyambedu added to the congestion at CMBT, the largest bus terminus in Asia, inaugurated in 2002 during the previous AIADMK regime.
“The congestion has reduced the pace of traffic in the area to 10 km per hour. Metro Rail and a new foodgrain godown being built by the CMDA will further aggravate the situation,” she said.
The new bus terminus will have space for moffusil buses, MTC buses, parking for two-wheelers and four-wheelers, bus depots, workshops, restaurants and public toilets.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said CMBT could accommodate the operations of 180 buses and another 60 stationary buses. But the buses from CMBT had increased manifold over the years.
“A total of 2,100 buses, including 1,250 buses for the southern districts, are operated 2,900 times a day,” she said.
The government could not set up a depot at CMBT due to lack of space. Some buses are parked inside the terminus and some by the road, causing enormous difficulty for the vehicles moving out of the terminus.
Whenever additional vehicles were operated during festivals and holidays, there was further congestion in the area, she said.
