Schedules of over 1,000 night buses to change

TRAVEL CURBS

Schedules of over 1,000 night buses to change

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:19.04.2021

With the new travel restrictions, the state transport department is likely to alter services of roughly 1,000 long-distance buses. Most of these buses, run after 7pm, will be operated in the mornings. With hotter days ahead, day-time travel for 300km or more in buses will be difficult and uncomfortable, say operators.

State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) will also be facing logistical issues while running such services in the morning as the bus crews ending trips by 10 pm will not be able to find a bus or other options to get back home. Government transport employees are not sure about the rationality behind allowing only trains in the night.

Similarly, private bus operators too are confused about how they can reschedule their services. Of the 4,000 omni buses, more than 90% are operated in the night hours from Chennai to southern and western parts of the state.

Bus operators claim that the industry, with over two lakh employees, was already struggling to handle the ₹480 crore loss incurred during the restrictions imposed during Covid-19 first wave.

“Future looks very bleak now. Most passengers will cancel trips if we were to travel only in the morning hours,” said Karvendan, a private omni bus proprietor.

Besides buses, taxi operators too are worried since the new restrictions will push them deeper in debt.

K Anbalagan from TN Taxi Drivers Association said, “We managed start getting 10 or 12 bookings a day only now. A majority of them were trips to the city’s outskirts post 8pm and only such bookings bring us profit. If not for them, earning even ₹400 or ₹500 a day becomes difficult”.