CHENNAI: Demand for bus, train tickets surged across the state on Friday due to the weekend and also the upcoming Ayudha Puja holidays. The State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), responsible for managing advance reservations for government buses, received 30,000 bookings on Friday, well above the average of 7,000-8,000.
As train bookings reached full capacity, special trains were operated on the Chennai Egmore - Tirunelveli and Chennai - Mangaluru routes on Friday. Meanwhile, Omni bus fares which had increased by 100% on routes such as Chennai - Coimbatore and others on Thursday, came down on Friday. The Omni Bus Owners Association released a fare list on their official website (www.aoboa.co.in) and denied all allegations of collecting higher fares.
A Anbalagan, president of All Omni Bus Owners and Operators Association, said, “Fares for premium AC seater, sleeper buses made by the likes of Volvo, Mercedes Benz and Scania, will always be higher than those of regular buses. However, both these fares are often compared. Ticket booking portals disclose the fare and bus type before charging commuters. In case of any complaints, commuters can always contact us at 9043379664.”
K Elangovan, managing director of SETC, said that about 18,000 commuters reserved tickets from Chennai alone on Friday. “For Saturday, we have received over 24,000 bookings. We are planning to deploy more buses to run on high-demand routes.”
Notably, the Chennai - Coimbatore route saw the highest demand. SETC buses transport around 60,000 commuters on a regular weekday and about one lakh commuters on a regular weekend. “This week, we expect to transport 1.5 lakh commuters per day during the three-day Ayudha Puja break,” Elangovan added.
SETC has announced that over 2,100 special buses will operate from October 20 - 22 to accommodate the surge in demand from Chennai. About 2,000 buses in all run from Chennai CMBT, MMBT, and other locations.