Special buses announced ahead of Bakrid, long weekend

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporations (TNSTC) will operate thousands of special buses across the state between Tuesday and Sunday in view of the expected surge in passenger traffic during Bakrid, muhurtham days and the extended weekend.

Transport corporation officials said additional buses would be operated along with regular services from Chennai and other major cities to various destinations across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states.

From Chennai, special buses will be operated to destinations including Tiruvannamalai, Bengaluru, Tirupur, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore, Salem and Erode. A total of 475 special buses will be operated on Tuesday, while 845 buses will run on Wednesday. Another 455 buses each will be operated on May 28, 29 and 30.

In addition, buses will be operated from Chennai to Coimbatore, Tiruvannamalai, Nagapattinam, Velankanni, Hosur and Puducherry. Around 80 special buses will run on Tuesday and 170 buses each day from Wednesday to Saturday.

From Madhavaram, 35 special buses will be operated on Tuesday, while 60 buses each day will be run till Saturday. The transport corporations will also operate 300 special buses from cities including Madurai, Erode and Coimbatore to various destinations.

For the return journey after the holidays, 1,085 special buses will be operated on May 31 based on passenger demand, particularly towards Chennai and Bengaluru.

Officials said advance bookings had already crossed one lakh passengers cumulatively for the six-day period. So far, 13,877 passengers have booked tickets for Tuesday, 18,979 for Wednesday, 11,726 for Thursday, 10,675 for Friday, 11,304 for Saturday and 18,320 for Sunday.

The state transport department has advised to book tickets in advance through the official TNSTC website and mobile application to avoid last-minute rush. Transport officials have also been deployed at major bus termini to monitor the operation of special services.