CHENNAI: Rail passengers bound to Madurai, Bodinayakakanur, Tirunelveli and Karur without a ticket confirmation will no longer need travel up to Koyambedu to board buses. To tap the growing transportation demand which cannot be catered by trains, State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) has begun operation of three daily AC bus services to Tirunelveli, Karur and Bodinayakkanur from Chennai Egmore railway station.
According to a senior official from SETC, AC sleeper-cum-eater service to Karur and AC sleeper bus to Bodinayakkanur was operated from Chennai Egmore railway station on trial basis from Monday. “Since these buses had better commuter patronage, Chennai-Tirunelveli AC sleeper bus which was launched on Monday will also ply from Chennai Egmore railway station,” said the officer.
Earlier, these AC sleeper services, which was launched on July 3, operated from Koyambedu bus stand. Many rail passengers, who could not get their train tickets confirmed till last minute, were forced to travel till CMBT to board SETC and Omni buses.
Trains operated from Chennai Egmore to Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Sengottai, and Virudhunagar had over 98 per cent occupancy through the years. Sleeper berths, particularly, in all the express trains have a huge demand among rail passengers. The move is expected to provide better connectivity for Theni and Karur districts. There are no direct trains from Chennai to Bodinayakkanur, whereas Karur has two daily express trains — Palakkad Express and Chennai Egmore-Mangaluru Express.
Though Chennai-Tirunelveli section has seven daily express trains at night, the section remained one of the highly congested routes in the country. Officials said that after studying the patronage of buses they would fix the timings for AC sleepers. Presently, three buses leave Chennai Egmore railway station between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm.
“The buses from Egmore station will pass through CMBT. We have deployed staff members to guide the passengers to board the AC sleeper buses,” explained an SETC official. The ticket fare for Chennai-Bodi AC sleeper is `1,110, while Chennai-Tirunelveli AC sleeper bus is `1,360. Similarly, sleeper berth for Chennai-Karur buses costs `820, and AC seater is `430. SETC also added Chennai-Bengaluru AC sleeper into its fleet last week.
Ticket fares
The ticket fare for Chennai-Bodi AC sleeper is `1,110, while Chennai-Tirunelveli AC sleeper bus is 1,360. Similarly, sleeper berth for Chennai-Karur buses costs `820, and AC seater is `430.