Pongal exodus begins, buses in high demand
Huge Crowd Creates Traffic Jam At CMBT
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:11.01.2020
The great Pongal-time migration of city residents to southern and western districts began on Friday evening.
While nearly one lakh passengers left by government special buses and trains on Friday, at least 20% of Chennai’s population are expected to move to their native villages in the next three or four days.
Bookings for special buses on Friday increased by 350% over the normal 4,000 bookings done everyday. But on Friday, close to 18,000 seats were reserved in advance. Of this, 10,200 boarded buses from Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus (CMBT) at Koyambedu.
Though special arrangements were made by the state transport department, a larger-than-anticipated crowd thronged the bus stand, leading to traffic congestion outside.
Pending flyover work, near the entrance worsened the situation. “Though we reached Arumbakkam in 30 minutes, it took us equal time to cross the 1km stretch after that to reach CMBT,” said Sudarashan who was travelling from Madipakkam to Koyambedu.
Too many vehicles started driving on the wrong side near the traffic signal forcing others to wait for longer than usual, he added.
However, on reaching the terminus, it wasn’t that chaotic except for longer waiting time for buses travelling to Tirunelveli and Nagercoil.
Unlike buses to Madurai or Trichy, frequency to these faroff places was not high and online booking rate was also high for these buses. Only rear seats and those near driver cabins were available, said passengers waiting on platforms 7 and 8.
As far as trains are concerned, Central and Egmore stations were overcrowded and unreserved compartments in all trains were packed. This left passengers, boarding trains at Tambaram, in the lurch and many had to stand near footboards all night to reach their destination.
Exploiting the situation, many private buse operators charged thrice than the normal fare. Since police didn’t allow them to park near CMBT they reached Tambaram and Perungalathur right from 6pm.
Huge Crowd Creates Traffic Jam At CMBT
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:11.01.2020
The great Pongal-time migration of city residents to southern and western districts began on Friday evening.
While nearly one lakh passengers left by government special buses and trains on Friday, at least 20% of Chennai’s population are expected to move to their native villages in the next three or four days.
Bookings for special buses on Friday increased by 350% over the normal 4,000 bookings done everyday. But on Friday, close to 18,000 seats were reserved in advance. Of this, 10,200 boarded buses from Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus (CMBT) at Koyambedu.
Though special arrangements were made by the state transport department, a larger-than-anticipated crowd thronged the bus stand, leading to traffic congestion outside.
Pending flyover work, near the entrance worsened the situation. “Though we reached Arumbakkam in 30 minutes, it took us equal time to cross the 1km stretch after that to reach CMBT,” said Sudarashan who was travelling from Madipakkam to Koyambedu.
Too many vehicles started driving on the wrong side near the traffic signal forcing others to wait for longer than usual, he added.
However, on reaching the terminus, it wasn’t that chaotic except for longer waiting time for buses travelling to Tirunelveli and Nagercoil.
Unlike buses to Madurai or Trichy, frequency to these faroff places was not high and online booking rate was also high for these buses. Only rear seats and those near driver cabins were available, said passengers waiting on platforms 7 and 8.
As far as trains are concerned, Central and Egmore stations were overcrowded and unreserved compartments in all trains were packed. This left passengers, boarding trains at Tambaram, in the lurch and many had to stand near footboards all night to reach their destination.
Exploiting the situation, many private buse operators charged thrice than the normal fare. Since police didn’t allow them to park near CMBT they reached Tambaram and Perungalathur right from 6pm.
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