Chennai MTC Bus fares & Bus Pass Tariffs - As at June 2013

:: Chennai MTC Bus fares & Bus Pass Tariffs - As at June 2013 ::

If Statistics are to be believed, it is said that almost 70% of the people in Chennai travels by the MTC Bus and it carries 50 Lakhs passengers per day. Many a times, we have boarded the bus without knowing the actual fare. And sometimes we are puzzled at the rate being charged. Many of us don't know what is the bus fare and how it is being calculated. I just collected few details regarding bus fares and concessional bus passes, which I am posting here. These informations were not the official one. So it might differ, but I cross checked the rates with the places I travelled, It was correct. 

Basically, the bus fare is calculated on the basis of the following things : 

• Area (Destination) &
• Type of Bus (Ordinary , Express , Deluxe or Volvo)

Basic tariffs for the ordinary Buses :

Stage Fare Stage Fare

1 3.00 16 9.00

2 4.00 17 9.00

3 5.00 18 10.00

Ordinary White board bus. Source: Wikimedia.org

4 5.00 19 10.00

5 6.00 20 10.00

6 6.00 21 11.00

7 6.00 22 11.00

8 7.00 23 12.00

9 7.00 24 12.00

10 8.00 25 13.00

11 8.00 26 13.00

12 8.00 27 14.00

13 9.00 28 14.00

14 9.00

15 9.00

* A Stage is approximately 2 Kilometers.

Basic tariffs for the Express Buses :

Express Bus.
Source: Skyscrappercity.com

The Express buses were charged on the following basis :  

(Ordinary Bus Fare * 1.5 ) + 0.50 paisa

Ie. (1.5 times of the ordinary fare) + 0.50 paisa

Basic tariffs for the Deluxe Buses :

Deluxe Bus . Source: wikimedia.org

The deluxe buses were charged on the following basis : 

(Ordinary Bus Fare * 2 ) + Re.1

Ie. (Double of the amount of  ordinary fare) + Re.1

Basic tariffs for the Volvo (A/C) Buses :

Volvo A/C Bus.
Source: Skyscrappercity.com

Stage Fare      Stage       Fare

1 15.00 16 50.00

2 25.00 17 50.00

3 30.00 18 55.00

4 30.00 19 55.00

5 35.00 20 55.00

6 35.00 21 60.00

7 35.00 22 60.00

8 40.00 23 65.00

9 40.00 24 65.00

10 45.00 25 70.00

11 45.00 26 70.00

12 45.00 27 75.00

13 50.00 28 75.00

14 50.00

15 50.00

* A Stage is approximately 2 Kilometers.

Example :

I usually travel from  Triplicane to Alwarpet and the travel distance is 6 Kilometers. A stage is approximately 2 Kilometers, hence 6 KMs falls in Stage 3. Here is price they charge :
Ordinary Bus : Rs.5 (Check out the ordinary fares above for stage 3)

Express : Rs.8  [ (Rs.5  * 1.5) + Re.0.50 ]

Deluxe : Rs.11 [ (Rs.5 * 2) + Rs.1 ]

You can calculate the distance between the two areas at the bottom of my earlier post by clicking here. 

Concessional Fares & Bus Passes :

For School Students & Government Colleges - Free Pass :

Souce: New Indian Express

• Students studying from 1st Std to 12th Std in the Schools recognized by Government and students studying in the Government Colleges and Government Polytechnics are eligible to avail this free bus pass facility by paying Rs.15 to the school towards application form.

• Passes issued to travel from residence to school and back.

• Allowed to travel on all days in the month.

• Permitted to travel in all Ordinary,Express and Deluxe services

• The validity period is from 15th June to 30th April

For Other College Students - Students Concession Tickets (SCT) :

Stages		Ticket value
1		70.00
2		90.00
3		110.00
4		110.00
5		130.00
6 & above		130.00

• Students studying above 12th standard in Govt. recognized institutions excluding students studying in Government colleges and Government polytechnics are eligible to avail the concession and permitted to travel from their residence to college/library back on all days in a month.

• Permitted to travel in all Ordinary,Express and deluxe services only. 

• 60 Exchange Tokens per month @ Rs.3.50/- per token. But in practice, only 20 tokens per student is being issued.

• The passes can be renewed from 1st to 15th of every month. But in practise, each student will be alloted a particular date and he should renew it before that specified date at the specified counter.

• Timings for renewal : 08.30 Hours to 11.00 Hours &15.00 Hours to 19.30 Hours

For other Commuters - Regular monthly passes & Travel as you please passes :

Monthly Commuter Season Tickets (MST) :

Stage Fare  Stage Fare

1 NA         13 450.00

2 NA         14 450.00

3 240.00 15 450.00

4 240.00 16 450.00

5 280.00 17 450.00

6 310.00 18 480.00

7 310.00 19 480.00

8 340.00 20 480.00

9 340.00 21 510.00

10 380.00 22 510.00

11 380.00 23 510.00

12 410.00

* A Stage is approximately 2 Kilometers

• M.S.T. Holders are permitted to travel in all Ordinary and Express services and difference fare of Rs.7/= is collected when they desire to travel in Deluxe Services

• Monthly Season Ticket cards are issued from 1st to 20th of every month during 08.30 Hours to 11.00 Hours &15.00 Hours to 19.30 Hours

Travel As You Please Tickets (Daily / Weekly / Monthly) :

Type Ticket value

Daily Travel Ticket         50.00

Weekly Travel Ticket 300.00

Monthly Travel Ticket 1,000.00

Daily Ticket Rs.50 :

Rs.50 Ticket.
Source: Binai Shakar's Photo in Picassa

• Allowed to travel in Ordinary/EXP/Deluxe services except Volvo/Night services/Lift services/Chartered trips

• Valid for the date of issue only 

• Valid only if signed by the purchaser

• Ticket is available with the conductor 

Weekly Ticket Rs.300 :

• Allowed to travel in Ordinary/EXP/Deluxe/Night services except Volvo/Lift services and Chartered trips.

• Valid for the period mentioned in the card

• Valid only if signed by the purchaser

• No duplicate card is issued

• To travel with the identity card issued by the MTC

• Issued on a
  ll Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays during 08.30 Hours to 11.00 Hours &15.00 Hours to 19.30 Hours

Monthly Ticket Rs.1,000 :

• Allowed to travel in Ordinary/EXP/Deluxe/Night services except Volvo/Lift services and Chartered trips

• Valid for the period mentioned in the card

• Valid only if signed by the purchaser

• No duplicate card is issued

• To travel with the identity card issued by the MTC

• Issued from from 1st to 20th of every month during 08.30 Hours to 11.00 Hours &15.00 Hours to 19.30 Hours

Free Travel Concession for Physically Handicapped and Mentally Retarded :

• To be recommended by District Rehabilitation Officer

• Disability should be more than 40%.

• Annual income should be less than Rs.12000/-.

• Passes issued by MTC

• Allowed to travel Point-to-Point [i.e.] from residence to hospital / Educational Institutions / Work place within a max. distance of 30 Km

• One attendant is allowed to travel with mentally retarded person

• To travel with the identity card issued by Rehabilitation department

Concession for Blinds

(Free Travel Concessions to Blinds for taking treatement) :

• To be recommended by District rehabilitation Officer

• No restriction on income, travel distance and number of trips per month

• Passes issued by MTC

• To travel with the identity card issued by Rehabilitation department

References : http://getbus.blogspot.in/, http://www.kinindia.com/, http://tnstc.wordpress.com/, http://mtcbus.org

To know about the Call taxi tariffs in Chennai, Click Here.

To know about the Namma Auto Tariffs in Chennai, Click Here.

Heritage of Koyambedu, Chennai : Guest Post by Padmapriya T S, Author - Aalayam Kanden

Kothwal Chavadi Lady nee Koyambedu Vaadi  

Wondering what this line from a Gaana song is doing on the Namma Area Blog?

Koyambedu Bridge. Source: Walkthroughindia.com

Koyambedu – The mere word conjures up images of the mofussil bus terminus, vegetable and fruit market, the huge, maze like flyover and above all, snarling traffic.  That is Koyambedu today! 

In 1995, a year before the fruit and vegetable market was inaugurated, making Kothwal Chavadi lose its glamour, Koyambedu was well known for its SAF Games Village- an exclusive settlement created for the participants of the South Asian Federation Games in Chennai. 

Today, that settlement comprising 760 flats, houses State and Central Government officials and IAS officers. But I am going to take you several centuries back in time, two yugas behind, and make you look at Koyambedu then! How does it sound?

At that time, Koyambedu was not a separate locality. It was part of Sage Valmiki’s ashram. The ashram, thanks to the absence of Land Ceiling Act then, stretched from Thiruvanmiyur (Thiru + Valmiki+ Oor) which is still named after him, to Siruvapuri and beyond. 

Rama returned to Ayodhya after the Lanka War, and was ruling over it with Sita as his queen. When he heard one of his countrymen (a dhobi) comment about having a woman who had spent a long time in another man’s custody as his wife, Rama asked Lakshmana to take a pregnant Sita to the forest and leave her there. This he did, knowing that truth will take its own course in proving its strength.

Sita, who was left alone in the forest, was brought by Sage Valmiki to his ashram and soon the two princes, Lava and Kusha were born. Yes, they were born right here, in Koyambedu!
The little boys soon grew up and became the disciples of Sage Valmiki. The sage taught them archery and wrestling, apart from the scriptures and Vedas. At this time, Lord Rama was aspiring to perform the Ashwamedha Yagna and sent out the ceremonial horse along with his chosen men around the country. 

When the horse entered Sage Valmiki’s ashram, the two boys caught the horse, and tied it up to a tree. Not just that, they built a fence of arrows around it so that no one could take the horse away without fighting them. This was how the particular location came to be known as Ko (horse)+ Ambu (arrow)+ Pedu (fence). Lakshmana and the soldiers came into the ashram in order to retrieve the horse. But they were no match to the little soldiers. 

Soon the boys had them rounded up and tied. When Rama heard about this, he was surprised and came to rescue his brother and soldiers. The young boys not knowing that it was their father started showering arrows at him. When Rama took out his Rama Baana and aimed at the children, Sage Valmiki intervened and introduced them to each other and thus the family was reunited.

The place where the young Lava and Kusha fought against Rama is still on the outskirts of Chennai and is called Siruvapuri (Siruvar (children)+porpuri(act of fighting).
In order to overcome the sin of attempting to fight their own father, Sage Valmiki asked them to worship Lord Shiva. 

The two small boys with their little hands made a shivalinga and worshipped him. The lingam turned out to be small, like an overturned earthen lamp and to this day is called Kuchalavapureeswara or Kurungaleeswara. 

Lava Kusha worshipping Lord Kurungaleeswara Photo Credits: Padmapriya T S

Right next to the Kurungaleeswara Temple stands the Sri Vaikundavasa Perumal Temple. It is here that the two boys were blessed by Lord Vishnu. This temple has several unique icons that one cannot see anywhere else and which give clear evidence to the story above. 

As we enter the temple, we see an icon of Rama wearing the Maravuri (costume made out of wood bark, usually worn in the forest) and the usual Lakshmana and Sita not found next to him, depicting that he came alone looking for his men, and wore the costume that one would normally wear in the forest, sympathizing with his wife whom he thought was still in the forest. 

A visibly pregnant Sita can be found on the way to the Sanctum Sanctorum, wearing her hair in a loose knot, as she would have in a Sage’s ashram, devoid of any decorations she might have had as a queen.

The two young boys, Lava and Kusha are found on either side of Sage Valmiki on the wall outside the sanctum sanctorum.


That’s not all. For a complete account of the specialties of this temple, check out http://aalayamkanden.blogspot.in/2011/03/kurungaleeswarar-temple-koyambedu.html Whether you are from Kothwal Chawadi or elsewhere, lady or gent, when you are in Koyambedu next, do make it a point to check out this temple. Relive a bit of mythology!  This temple is on the lane right opposite to the Nathella Sulochanamma Kalyana Mandapam.

Kurungaleeswara Temple - View from the Entrance Photo Credits: Padmapriya T S

-       A guest post for Deepak Raghuraman’s Namma Area Blog

About the Author – Padmapriya T S :

Padmapriya T S is a Cost Accountant by training, working with the British Council as Head of Resources for South India. Blogging about heritage sites is her passion and Aalayam Kanden (http://aalayamkanden.blogspot.in)  is a journey through ancient,lesser known temples seen through her eyes.

She has been blogging for almost three years now and the blog has been listed among the top blogs of India as well as top travel blogs. It enjoys a viewership of over a lakh visitors from 140 countries.

She lives in Chennai with her family. Her son Aditya Baskaran  is also a blogger. He does movie reviews for The Hindu NxG and also reviews movies in his blog Cinemania (http://abcinemagic.blogspot.in/) 

I must thank Padmapriya mam for obliging for the request to make a guest post in my blog. I have just decided to have a monthly guest post in my blog and this month Padmapriya mam has done a great job in researching and writing about the heritages of Koyambedu. 

These monthly guest posts are just a step to give a break to my routine posts and to give a different flavour to the readers. Wait for the upcoming monthly guest posts !

With Cheers,
Deepak Raghuraman

Chennai Street Shopping - Which Street Famous for What !!!

:: Chennai Street Shopping - Which Street Famous for What !!! ::

Chennai , as we all know, is a hub for the shopping and it caters to the needs of all the people across the globe. Certain areas in Chennai were unique and well-known for its business & shopping activities. A particular area deals with the sale of a particular type of products. We have many such places here in Chennai, of which I am trying to post a few which are very famous and can be helpful for those who don't know about those places. Shopping at ease at an affordable prices. It is just a small list, if any readers know someother places can be added, feel free to let me know. I will add up.

Which Street Famous for What !!!!! :

Mannadi Street – Parrys : 

Cereals & Pulses, Textiles

Mannadi St. Source: veethi.com

Angappa Naicken Street – Parrys : 

Textiles & Eateries

Linghi Chetty Street – Parrys : 

Steel Hardware, Electric Motors & Pumpsets 

Linghi Chetty St. Source: livemint.com

Thambu Chetty Street – Parrys : 

Ball & Roller bearings, Ceramic tiles & Sanitaryware

Thambuchetty St.

Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

Sembudoss Street – Parrys : 

Steel sheets & Rods

Sembudoss st
Source: The Hindu

Broadway : 

Cycles & Optical Goods 

Broadway. Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

Anderson Street – Parrys : 

Stationery 

A Shop in Anderson St. Source: The Hindu

Godown Street – Parrys : 

Textiles 

Godown St. Source: The Hindu

Govindappa Naicken Street – Parrys : 

Electrical Goods

Nyniappa Naicken Street – Parrys : 

Chemical & Surgical Equipments

Audiappa Naicken Street – Parrys : 
Dry fruits & Rice (Thanks to Tasneem Ayub for this update)

Kasichetty Street – Parrys : 

Grey market for Electric goods, Electronic goods, Cameras, and regular market for Plasticware

Devaraja Mudali Street – Parrys : 

Glassware & Photoframing 

Photoframe shop in Devaraja Mudali St.
Source: The Hindu Business Line

Baai Kadai / Evening Bazaar – Parrys : 

Cutlery, Crockery, Aluminium & Stainless Steel Utensils, Carpets & Mats

Sowcarpet : 

North Indian Accessories and Materials

Mint Street : 

Jain Temples, Glass Shops, Fashion Jewelleries

Jain Temple - Sowcarpet / Mint.
Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

Stringers Street – Mint : 

Foot Wear

Perimet – Park Town : 

Wholsale & Retail Leather 

Shoe shop in Periamet. Source: Hindu Businessline

Moore Market – Central Railway Station : 

Second hand book market

A brillian shot of Moore market by Mr.Shantaram
Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

George Town / Burma Bazaar : 

Pure Mulberry Silk, Grey market for Electronic goods, Cameras, Luggage, Perfumes & Accessories

Richie Street & Blacker’s Road – Mount Road : 

Electric & Electronic goods, especially sound systems and audio accessories 

Richie St. Source: The Hindu

Anna Salai (Mount Road) : 

Lighting fixtures & Lamp shades and Many large stores covering an area of almost 8 km

General Patters Road (GP Road) – Mount Road : 

Auto components & Spares 

GP Road
Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

Pudupet – Egmore : 

Second-hand automobile parts

Gandhi Irwin Road & Whannel’s Road – Egmore : 

Travel Agencies

Purasaiwalkam High Road : 

All house-hold items 

Purasaiwalkam High Road. Source: The Hindu

Sydenhams Road – Choolai : 

Timber

Royapettah High Road : 

Furnitures

White’s Road – Royapet : 

Automobile Tyres 

Whites Road. Source: Skyscrappercity.com

Zam Bazaar – Royapet : 

Naattu Marundhu Kadais (Traditional Herbals shop), Garland Shops 

Zambazaar. Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

Bells Road – Triplicane : 

Second-hand two wheelers

Triplicane High Road & Ellis Road : 

Screen Printing 

Triplican High Road. Source: Wikimedia

Kutchery Road :

Ceramic tiles & Sanitaryware

Mylapore : 

Classical dance shopping, Handicrafts, Traditional Items, Fashion Accessories etc., 

Mylapore. Source: Indianbazaar.blogspot.in

G N Chetty Road – T.Nagar & Natesan Salai – Triplicane : 

Timber & Plywood

Pondy Bazaar & Ranganathan Street - T.Nagar :  

Elegant footwear, leather bags, crockery, toys, costume, jewellery, cotton garments, stationary, music accessories and All Home Utility material & goods including vegetables 

Pondy Bazaar from the lens of Mr.Shantaram
Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

Panagal Park & South Usman Road– T.Nagar :  

Jewellery & Silk Sarees

Kodambakkam Bridge : 

Screen Printing & Visiting Cards

Koyambedu Market – Koyambedu : 

Wholesale market for Fruits, Flowers & Vegetables 

Koyambedu Market. Source: Mr.Shantaram (chennaimadras.blogspot.in)

Cotton Street – Pantheon Lane : 

Cotton Dresses and Dress Materials 

Cotton St. Source: The Hindu

Anna Nagar : 

Expensive luxurious items & Branded items.

References : http://www.chennai.org.uk/, http://www.chennaibest.com/, http://www.sify.com/, http://annejesmedon.blogspot.in/