Travelers demonstrate at Chennai’s Kilambakkam terminal

At the Kilambakkam Bus Terminus on Thursday night, hundreds of passengers protested, demanding buses to southern districts and delta areas. A group of commuters tried to block the GST Road, citing inadequate bus services, but the police intervened.

Nonetheless, the transportation authorities denied a bus shortage and blamed the large number of commuters for the terminal’s congestion.

Commuters said that there were not enough buses heading to Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Madurai, and other locations, despite police and transportation authorities repeatedly assuring them that buses were on their way to the terminal.

In order to appease passengers and lessen congestion at the terminal, the majority of SETC and TNSTC buses that had returned from other regions of the state after 12.30 am were rerouted to the most popular routes.

Four lakh commuters used buses on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a statement released by Transport Secretary K Phanindra Reddy on Friday. This number is 1.18 lakh more than the number of commuters who took buses to their hometowns during the 2021 Assembly elections. “On Thursday and Friday, 3,115 special buses were operated from Chennai in addition to the daily regular services of 2,092 buses per day.”

Reddy went on to say that the railways had run extra special trains and added extra carriages to several trains on Thursday in response to the state government’s request.

He said, “Transport department officials worked throughout the day to ensure bus services operated without interruption.” He also expressed gratitude to the staff and transportation authorities who helped travelers by staying at the bus terminal till five in the morning on Friday.