Southern Railway charters MTC buses to ease travel woes of suburban train commuters in Chennai

CHENNAI: Southern Railway on Thursday started operating special buses between Chennai Beach and Tambaram in tie-up with the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) to ease the ordeal faced by commuters due to mass cancellation of suburban trains owing to redevelopment work at Egmore railway station.

Though the railways initially announced that 20 special buses would be operated from Saturday (Feb 28) during peak hours, the plan was advanced to cater to office-goers, school students, and college students for the rest of the week.


The chartered buses have ticket examiners from the railways to verify passengers with valid suburban train tickets and seasonal passes, allowing them to travel without any additional cost.

The buses depart from Tambaram railway station at 6.30am, 6.37am, 6.44am, 6.58am, 7.05am, 7.12am, 7.26am, 7.33am, 7.40am, 7.54am, 8.01am, 8.15am, 8.22am, 8.29am and 8.43 am. They travel to Chennai Beach via Guindy, Anna Salai, Chepauk and Secretariat. Buses starting from Tambaram at 6.51am, 7.19am, 7.47am, 8.08am and 8.36am to Chennai Beach ply via T Nagar, Egmore, Central and Parry’s Corner.

In the return direction, buses are operated from Chennai Beach to Tambaram between 5pm and 7pm at an approximate interval of 7 minutes.

Railway officials said the 15-car fast local trains between Chennai Beach and Tambaram would be operated from Saturday, as announced earlier.