Transport Minister M.R. Vijayabhaskar inaugurated special counters for advance booking of tickets at the Dr. MGR Bus Terminus in Koyambedu on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media, Mr. Vijayabhaskar said 30 special counters had been opened to cater to the Deepavali rush. He said 26 special counters had been opened at the Koyambedu bus terminus, two counters at Tambaram Sanatorium bus terminus and one each in Madhavaram and Poonamallee. The counters would be open from 7 a.m. till 9 p.m. Special counters have also been allotted for women and physically-challenged persons, he added.
For those planning to book tickets for destinations of more than 300 km, tickets could be booked online by visiting www.tnstc.in
A senior official of the State Transport Department said that passengers planning to board at Tambaram and Perungalathur bus stops are advised to board their buses at the Kilambakkam bus terminus, near Urapakkam. All those buses proceeding from Koyambedu bus terminus and bound for GST Road have been diverted through Outer Ring Road and would join GST Road at Vandalur to avoid traffic congestion.
The Transport Department would be operating a total of 20,567 buses with more than 11,300 buses to be operated from Chennai to various parts of the State and 9,200 buses from different parts of the districts. These special buses would operated for three days from November 3.
The regular and special buses will be operated from six bus termini — Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Bus Terminus (CMBT) in Koyambedu, Tambaram Sanatorium, Tambaram railway station bus stop, the newly-inaugurated Madhavaram bus terminus, Poonamallee and K.K. Nagar. The six bus terminals have been segregated to decongest the bus operations to various districts.
As per the plan, passengers bound southwards, including Tiruvannamalai, would have to take the buses from Koyambedu and buses would be operated from Tambaram Sanatorium to destinations such as Kumbakonam and Thanjavur via Vikravandi and Panruti. Those passengers bound for Kancheepuram, Cheyyar, Vellore, Arani and Hosur should take the buses from Tambaram railway station bus stop. For those commuters proceeding on the ECR to Puducherry could should take the buses from K.K. Nagar bus terminus.
