Similar to the heavy rush for Pongal and Deepavali there is a heavy rush for buses this election season. The rush includes those going to their home town to cast their vote and to enjoy an extended weekend as the polling is on Monday. With the waiting list in trains going to a few hundred - on Friday and Monday - bus is their only option.
“Omni bus fare is a little higher than normal for summer. It is much higher from April 13 (Friday) to May 16 (Monday). It reaches the peak on Friday and Monday. It is a little higher for a couple of days after the elections too,” says M. Vignesh of Peelamedu who is working in Chennai. He was trying to book ticket for coming to Coimbatore to discharge his democratic duty.
Realising the crowd, more omni buses are hitting the road from Friday to Monday. Half a dozen AC semi-sleeper and sleeper buses operating for less than Rs. 1,000 on regular days are operating for Rs. 2,000 or more this weekend. Ticket prices in non-AC semi-sleeper and sleeper tickets have also gone up by more than two fold in many buses. It has made casting their vote an expensive affair for many passengers.
President of the Coimbatore Omni Bus Owners Association, R. Baskar, said that the buses connecting Coimbatore with Chennai and Bengaluru have been booked well in advance for Friday. He said that there is heavy rush to southern districts as well. He said that the association has fixed the fare for non-AC semi-sleeper seats at Rs. 800, for the election season.
Mr. Baskar said that the operators will be offering tickets at a little lesser far than the online booking rates on popular portals. He added that fleecing operators would not get all their seats filled and this would reflect with the drop in ticket rates at the last moment. On the other hand, keeping in mind the election rush, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), Coimbatore Division is operating 139 special buses on those days. The buses ahead of the elections will be operated from Friday to Sunday. There is no advance booking for these buses.
“The buses will be operated at par with the special buses operated during festival seasons, at no extra fare,” a senior TNSTC official said. While the TNSTC does not operate to Chennai – due to long distance – will be operating 10 buses every day on those three days.
In addition to the existing service, 20 additional buses will be operated to Madurai, 15 to Trichy and to other destinations based on the demand. Similar additional services will be operated for the return trips. These are in addition to additional service that will be operated by other transport corporations operating to Coimbatore.
