CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Transport department, which has debts of over Rs 30,000 crore, has quietly converted over 2,500 low-fare ordinary bus services into ‘deluxe’ services, to deal with soaring diesel prices.
Deluxe bus fares are higher by Rs 35 to Rs 55 per ticket up to 75 to 200 km distances. The ticket fares of deluxe and express buses are charged at 85 paise per km while the fares for ordinary bus services are charged 58 paise per km.
Six corporations of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) — Villupuram, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Salem and Kumbakonam — have recently pasted ‘Deluxe’ stickers on the front mirror of all buses, barring a few services which are operated to smaller towns.
Of the 19,490 (excluding spare buses) bus fleet, 6,850 are on mofussil routes. It is learnt that over 2,500 ordinary services on mofussil routes have been converted into deluxe and express services.
At the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Bus Terminus at Koyambedu, all buses from Chennai to Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Puducherry, Arcot, Salem, Dharmapuri and Hosur have been converted into express and deluxe buses. Commuters rued that this has forced them to spend Rs 55 more per ticket between Chennai and Tiruvannamalai. The fare is Rs 120 on ordinary buses, Rs 175 on deluxe and Rs 200 on ultra deluxe buses.
Move inevitable, say officials
The debt-ridden corporation was incurring an additional loss of Rs 11 crore a day due to a rise in fuel prices, as fares had not been increased, officials said.
“For every hour, an ordinary bus was operated until a few months ago. Later, the services were reduced during the day and now there are no ordinary buses to Tiruvannamalai from the Koyambedu bus stand. We have to spend Rs 175 additionally for three persons travelling on the same bus without any additional services,” said K Kannan of Tiruvannamalai, a regular commuter.
According to official sources, the conversion of buses into deluxe and express services began a few months ago. “We could not find spare parts for ordinary buses. A few buses which are retrofitted with different bus bodies have been converted into deluxe services,” said a senior official from the Transport department.
Sources claimed that move was inevitable as the everyday day loss for transport corporations has increased to Rs 11 crore a day, owing to increased fuel prices. “In January this year, when the ticket fares were increased, the diesel rate was Rs 62.94 a litre, but now the price has risen to Rs 79.5. The transport corporations incur an additional loss of about Rs 3 crore a day, and the total debt accumulated is now Rs 30,000 crore,” said the official.
K.Natarajan, Treasurer, Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), termed the move as a knee-jerk reaction at a time when transport workers have threatened to go on strike. “The Transport department should take concrete measures to increase the revenue,” he added.
Hit hard:
Rs 62.94: Diesel price on January 20.
Rs 79.50: Diesel price on October 14.
Corporations incur loss of Rs 11 crore a day.
Chennai to Tiruvannamalai: Bus fare is Rs 120 for ordinary buses, Rs 175 for Deluxe and Rs 200 for Ultra deluxe buses.
6850 buses are operated in mofussil routes, which includes ordinary, express and deluxe services.
About 2,500 ordinary services converted into deluxe services.