Tamil Nadu govt to introduce tatkal booking for buses

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced that it will launch tatkal booking facility for long distance buses operated by state transport corporations.
Making the announcement during the assembly session, minister for transport MR Vijayabhaskar said that the scheme would help commuters who need to make travel arrangements at short notice.
"Four seats per bus will be reserved for tatkal booking," he said.
Transport department officials said that features of the scheme would be discussed at a meeting to be held in a fortnight's time. "A possible roll out date for the scheme is likely to be decided then," said a senior official.
State Express Transport Corporation officials said the tatkal scheme would help the department accommodate emergency travel cases.
"I think it will be convenient for me to book tatkal tickets in a train," said V Amudha, who travels frequently to Salem.
Another resident N Ramkkirubahar said that introducing tatkal would help the STC to charge a higher fare for a few seats. "Commuters who travel to districts where the rail connectivity is not great will find it a good option. In emergency situations, it will help. Introducing more bus services would have been great though," he said.
Booking for state operated deluxe, ultra deluxe, A/C and Volvo buses are currently done online on the TNSTC's website. Booking via phone is done using a mobile phone version of the website. However, this too will change as the government announced that it will soon launch a mobile app for booking.