Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation

The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) (Tamil: தமிழ்நாடு அரசு போக்குவரத்துக்கழகம்) is the public transport bus operator of Tamil Nadu, India.^[1] It operates buses along intra and inter state bus routes, as well as city routes.

There are currently 6 divisions in TNSTC:

• TNSTC Coimbatore
• TNSTC Villupuram
• TNSTC Kumbakonam
• TNSTC Salem
• TNSTC Madurai
• TNSTC Tirunelveli

History of TNSTC

• Cholan Roadways Corporation (CRC) commenced its operations in Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli Districts on the 1st of March 1972 on Government’s transferring buses taken over from Sri Ramavilas service (64 vehicles) Raman & Raman Limited (180 vehicles) and Sathi Vilas, Porayar (50 vehicles) under the Tamil Nadu Fleet Operators Stage Carriages (Acquisition) Act 1971. Its headquarters is Kumbakonam. Its fleet strength as on 31 January 1985 was 884. In view of its huge size, it was bifurcated and, after bifurcation, Cholan Roadways Corporation Limited is having Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur Districts as its operational area. Cholan Roadways Corporation Limited was renamed as Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Kumbakonam (Division-I) Ltd, Kumbakonam on 01.07.97 and its fleet strength as on 31.03.2003 was 925. During the year 2002-2003, 64 buses have been purchased for replacement.

• Cheran Transport Corporation Limited was incorporated as a Company on 17.02.1972 and it commenced its services on 01.03.72 with 110 buses taken over from erstwhile M/s Anamalai Bus Transport Ltd., Pollachi in Coimbatore District. Subsequently, it took over 120 buses from 19 private operators in pursuance of Tamil Nadu Stage Carriages and Contract Carriages (Acquisition) Act 1973 on 14.1.73. It was catering to the needs of passengers in Coimbatore, Erode and Nilgiris districts. In view of its huge size, Cheran Transport Corporation Limited was bifurcated and the new Corporation, namely the Jeeva Transport Corporation started functioning with headquarters at Erode. The Cheran Transport Corporation Limited continued its operations in Coimbatore and the Nilgiris districts. Again, in order to ensure close supervision and viability, Cheran Transport Corporation Limited was split into two Corporations, namely, Cheran Transport Corporation Limited and Mahakavi Bharathiar Transport Corporation Limited. The Cheran Transport Corporation Limited was renamed as Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Coimbatore and Mahakavi Bharathiyar Transport Corporation was renamed as Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, (Coimbatore Division III) Ltd, Udhagamandalam on 01.07.97. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Coimbatore Division III) Ltd., Udhagamandalam has been merged with Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Coimbatore Division I) Ltd., with effect from 7.11.2000. At present, the principal area of operation is Coimbatore and The Nilgiris Districts. As on 31.03.2003, it had a fleet strength of 1533. During the year 2002-2003, 85 buses have been purchased for replacement.

• Anna Transport Corporation Limited, Salem was established on 15 February 1973 with 45 buses with assets of the State Transport Department in Salem and Dharmapuri districts. The Corporation also took over three co-operative Motor Transport societies in Salem and Dharmapuri districts. Anna Transport Corporation was renamed as Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, (Salem Division-I) Ltd Salem on 01.07.97. The fleet strength as on 31.03.2003 was 911. The principal area of operation is now Salem and Namakkal Districts. During the year 2002-2003, 60 buses have been purchased for replacement. The Annai Sathya Transport Corporation Limited started its operations in Dharmapuri District with headquarters at Dharmapuri effective from 01.04.1987 by taking over the assets and liabilities transferred from the Anna Transport Corporation Limited on bifurcation. Annai Sathya Transport Corporation was renamed as Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, (Salem Division-II) Ltd Dharmapuri on 01.07.97. As on 31.03.2003 the Corporation was having 675 buses catering to the needs of passengers in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts. During the year 2002-2003, 88 buses have been purchased for replacement.

• The district bus services operated by the erstwhile Tamil Nadu State Transport Department were separated on the 15th September 1975, and formed as the district wing of Pallavan Transport Corporation Limited. The area of operation of this Corporation was Kanchipuram and Thiruvannamalai Districts. Routes of this wing and the Thanthai Periyar Transport Corporation Limited were rationalised and this wing started operating as an independent Corporation under the name of Pattukottai Azhagiri Transport Corporation Limited with headquarters at Vellore from the 1st December 1982 with a fleet strength of 268. The operational area of this Corporation was fixed as entire Vellore and Thiruvannamalai Districts. Pattukottai Azhagiri Transport Corporation (Villupuram division –II) Ltd was renamed as Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Vellore on 01.07.97. The fleet strength of the Corporation as on 31.03.2003 was 836. During the year 2002-2003, 51 buses have been purchased for replacement.

• The Pandiyan Roadways Corporation Limited came into existence from 17.01.72 with a fleet strength of 346 buses following the nationalisation of buses of Southern Roadways (P) Limited Madurai. The area of operation of this Corporation is Madurai District. Pandiyan Roadways Corporation Limited was renamed as Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, (Madurai Division-I) Ltd, Madurai on 01.07.97 and its fleet strength as on 31.03.2003 was 935. During the year 2002-2003, 63 buses have been purchased for replacement.

Prior to 1996-

Until 1996, the transport services are bifurcated and were undertaken by 21 different transport corporations to cater different parts of the state. Each transport corporation were named after a Leader/notable personality in the state. Later during 1997,the number of transport corporations are reduced and those 21 different transport corporations were clubbed to form just 6 transport corporations (Excluding MTC & SETC)

This time, all the leader's names were replaced with "TamilNadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC)" along with a division Name, which are as follows:

TNSTC Highlights

TNSTC is the second largest government bus transport corporation in India, after APSRTC, and is well known for its route coverage almost to every remote area within Tamil Nadu. TNSTC bus fares are still the lowest in the country amidst frequent fuel price hikes.

School, Govt. Arts college, ITI and Polytechnic college students get a pass to travel in the buses for free from their place of study to their residence. These passes are issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu.^[2] TNSTC also offers bus service to individual parties on basis of casual contract carriage trips. As a sign of respecting the famous Tamil poet "Thiruvalluvar" , Each and every TNSTC bus(also including MTC & SETC)will be displaying a portrait of Thiruvalluvar along with his two sentenced famous "Thirukkural" inside the bus.Tamil Nadu state transport corporation was first in India to introduce excellent paintings in buses.

Types of Buses & Facilities

TNSTC operates buses of various classes to cater to different sections of public.

1) General buses, the largest in its stable, ply on inter district, inter village routes and cater to a majority of the traffic.

2) Video coaches/Super deluxe buses are operated between district headquarters and to places of tourist and pilgrimage importance.

3) Ultra Deluxe coaches are operated from various important commercial centres of Tamil Nadu to Chennai, Bangalore and also amongst themselves. These are the non-AC luxury coaches of TNSTC. These have recliner seats with larger leg-room and sport personal fans and lights.

4) AC Video Coaches(Ashok LeyLand) are operated from Chennai to commercial centres. These have recliner cushion seats with personal adjustable AC vents and lights. Mineral water is available for free during the journey.

5) In order to meet the demands created by the Cosmopolitan lifestyle in and around Chennai, MTC introduced AC VOLVO buses few years back. Due to its proximity to Chennai, TNSTC Villupuram too faced the same demand and Started Operating AC VOLVO buses from Chennai.

Some of Routes(AC VOLVO) Operated by TNSTC Villupuram are:

• Chennai (T.Nagar Terminus) to Kanchipuram - Route 576: (Sharing the same MTC Route)
• Chennai to Hosur (via Vellore, Krishnagiri) -Route 503: Frequency once in an hour
• Chennai to Vellore - Route 502: Frequency once in an hour
• Chennai to Tiruchi
• Chennai to Pondicherry(ECR)

Ultra Deluxe coaches and AC Video Coaches(Ashok LeyLand) are also operated by SETC. Due to the sharing of market of these services and low fares, TNSTC has reported losses in recent times.

All TNSTC has its own Coach Building Units within their districts. SETC has its Body Building Unit at Nagercoil. TNSTC / SETC uses Ashok Leyland & TATA Buses. Now a Days SETC's Ultra Deluxe Coaches are built by Private Companies like Sutlej, Azad, Prakash, Irizar TVS, Harsha. TNSTC Buses are also constructed at Private Companies like Maaruti, Sakthi in Karur. Volvo City A/C Buses for MTC are built by Volvo itself. TNSTC/MTC are buying Pre-Built TATA Marcopolo buses for its City and Muffusil Services.

Tamil Nadu Transport Development Finance Corporation Ltd., (TDFC) is a joint venture of TNSTC which collects deposits from public in order to fund TNSTC.

• Established :1972

• Total No of Buses :20500 (as of 2010)

• Total No of Employees : 1.3 Lakhs (0.13 million) All over Tamil Nadu.

• Divisions :Coimbatore, Villupuram, Kumbakonam, Salem, Madurai, Tirunelveli.

Fleet

See also

• State Express Transport Corporation (Tamil Nadu)
• Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai)
• Pondicherry Road Transport Corporation

References

External links

• State Transport Undertakings