Passengers travelling to their homes for the long Pongal holidays in Tamil Nadu need to pay double the airfare and a premium for private buses. January 14 to 19 will be the longest continuous holiday week in Tamil Nadu for Government staff, teachers, schools and colleges in recent times. For the convenience of the staff to enjoy the full week, the State government has declared the 17th as a holiday, to be compensated on January 25. The government and railways had plans to ply additional trains and buses to meet the extra rush.
Air fares from Chennai to various cities like Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi and Salem have doubled. Similarly, private buses are charging more during the festive season, said sources.
P Murugesan, President of Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society, says the airfares between major cities in South India, particularly to and from Chennai, have seen a sharp rise ahead of the Pongal festival holidays. “This spike is attributed to the week-long holiday period in Tamil Nadu, which has led airlines to capitalise on the anticipated surge in demand,” he told businessline.
Airfares for Pongal
Tamil Nadu has declared January 17 a holiday and January 25 a compensatory working day. IndiGo and Air India have significantly increased the frequency of flights across South India, leading to a dramatic rise in fares, he said.
For instance, one-way airfare from Chennai to Trichy surged from ₹3,500 to ₹15,000. Similarly, Chennai to Madurai jumped from ₹4,000-₹5,000 to ₹17,000. The Chennai to Coimbatore route has seen an increase from ₹4,500 to ₹20,000, with similar fare hikes on the Chennai to Tuticorin route, he said.
Sources in the airline industry said the hike is based on supply and demand.
Private bus charges
On private buses increasing rates, TK Thiru Gnana Sambantham, Managing Director, Tharai Group, and Secretary of the All Omnibus Owners Association (Tamil Nadu) said that for omnibuses, there is no price restriction on ticketing and no government norms on the fare. However, based on a request from the State government, the association members have decided to fix a cap on the rate between various destinations.
The fixed rates are available on the association’s website. “We are strictly following this and not running the buses above the fixed rates on a mutual understanding between the bus operators and the government,” he told businessline.
One of the issues is that if a vehicle is going from Chennai to Kochi, for which the fare could be ₹4,000, a passenger can alight at Tiruchi or Madurai but need to pay the Chennai-Kochi fare (there are only four or five buses that ply between Chennai and Kochi daily). However, the passengers complained that the fare from Chennai to Tiruchi was ₹4,000. This is unfair criticism. From Chennai to Tiruchi, there are nearly 150 private buses that charge between ₹800 and ₹2,000 depending upon the type of vehicle, he said.
Mohammed Afzal, Chairman & Managing Director – Parveen Travels Pvt Ltd, said a bus going to Ernakulam on peak days does not have any ‘in between’ stoppage prices for ‘in between’ destinations. However, during the festival season, if a passenger boarding the bus to Ernakulam from Chennai wants to get down at Salem, they will be charged only the Ernakulam price.
“It is the passenger’s prerogative to decide whether to pay Ernakulam price and get down at Salem or not book that bus,” he said. “People knowingly book in that bus and blame that the bus operators are exploiting for which we do not have any explanation,” he said.
Over 6 lakh people have travelled in government buses from Chennai to their hometowns in the last three days.
Special buses
Transport Minister SC Sivasankar, in a statement, said 21,904 special buses are being operated throughout the State to facilitate public travel to their native places for the Pongal festival. Similarly, 22,676 buses will be operated for the convenience of people returning after celebrating Pongal. A total of 44,580 buses will be operated for the convenience of the public.
In addition to the regular 2,092 buses, 5,736 special buses have been operated from January 10 to 13. A total of 14,104 buses will be operated on all four days. Similarly, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation has decided to operate 7,800 special buses from other places from January 10 to 13 for the festival. In addition, 5,290 special buses will be operated daily from January 15 to 19, he said.
The buses to various directions from Chennai have been split among four terminuses. Buses to Puducherry, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Trichy, Madurai, Thoothukudi, Shencottah, Tirunelveli, Salem, Coimbatore, Kumbakonam and Thanjavur will leave from from Kilambakkam Mofussil Bus Terminus.
Kalaignar Centenary Bus Terminus, Kilambakkam Metropolitan Bus Stand, and buses will ply buses bound for Vandavasi, Polur, and Tiruvannamalai, which are being operated. Buses to Kancheepuram, Vellore, Bengaluru and Tiruttani via ECR Road will be from Koyambedu Bus Stand.
Buses to Andhra Pradesh via Ponneri and Uthukottai and regular buses to Trichy, Salem, Kumbakonam and Tiruvannamalai will be operated from Madhavaram New Bus Stand, he said.
Special trains
On its part, Southern Railway ran a one-way special train from Egmore to Mangaluru on Monday. It will operate a one-way train from Ramanathapuram – Tambaram on January 19. A special one-way train from Chennai Egmore to Thiruvananthapuram North (Kochuveli) was operated on Monday. A special one train will leave Thiruvananthapuram North (Kochuveli) – Vijayawada One Way Express Special will leave Thiruvananthapuram North (Kochuveli) on January 15, the Southern Railway said,
An 8-car unreserved MEMU from Chennai Egmore was run at 14.15 hrs on Monday to reach Madurai past midnight to help passengers. It stopped Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Melmaruvathur, Tindivanam, Villupuram, Vriddachalam, Ariyalur, Srirangam, Trichy, Manapparai, Dindigul, Sholavandan, Kodai Road and Madurai.