On Monday, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) announced that to cater to festive travelers ahead of Diwali, it will offer special bus services. The Corporation will operate 16,540 buses from November 1 to November 3, 2021, State Transport Minister RS Rajakanappan said. From Chennai, a total of 6,300 regular buses as well as 3,506 special buses will ply to other parts of Tamil Nadu. Whereas, 6,734 special buses in total will run between various destinations within the state. Similarly, for people to return to Chennai as well as other places, the state transport department has made arrangements to operate 17,719 buses from November 5 to November 8, 2021.

The number consists of 8,400 regular buses as well as 9,319 special buses, according to an IE report. The bus services would operate from five termini – Tambaram, Madhavaram, Poonamalle, KK Nagar and Koyambedu. The bus services will run to and from Madhavaram to Ponneri, Uthukottai, Gummudipoondi via Red Hills. From the bus terminus in KK Nagar, buses will ply to and from Puducherry, Chidambaram, Cuddalore via East Central Railway zone. Also, special buses will start from Tambaram for Kumbakonam, Thanjavur via Tindivanam as well as Tiruvannamalai, among others. Poonamalle bus terminus will be used to run buses to Kancheepuram, Vellore, Hosur and Tirupati, apart from other places. From Koyambedu, special buses will ply to Mayiladuthurai, Velankanni, Nagapattinam, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Madurai and Bengaluru, among others.

Passengers can book their tickets from 12 special counters set up at Tambaram and Koyambedu. They can also buy bus tickets from online portals. For commuters to enquire about bus timings as well as register complaints, the transport department has set up a 24×7 control room (94450-14450/94450-14436). At Koyambedu, a dedicated round-the-clock control room will function and also, steps would be taken to set up a total of 20 ‘May I Help You’ desks in major areas. Besides, the TNSTC has directed the Metropolitan Transport Corporation to run link buses from Koyambedu to four other bus termini, the report added.