From today, women in Tamil Nadu can travel for free on all government buses
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay is today expanding Vetri Travel Scheme for women at Chennai’s Koyambedu bus terminus on Friday, October 2, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanthi.
The expanded initiative will extend the existing free bus travel facility to additional government services, including Express, LSS and Deluxe buses. Women and transgender beneficiaries will be able to use the facility on a wider network of state-run buses.
The free travel programme was originally introduced under the previous DMK government for women travelling on ordinary government city buses. It has now been given the name Vetri Travel Scheme, along with an expansion of the services covered.
Officials have indicated that around 12,692 government buses will be included under the expanded programme. The facility is expected to serve about 84 lakh women each day and account for more than 16 lakh one-way journeys.
One of the key questions for passengers, however, concerns the maximum distance that can be travelled without paying a fare. In particular, there is uncertainty over whether the facility could be used for lengthy inter-city trips, such as Chennai to Coimbatore or Nagercoil, by changing from one eligible bus to another.
The distance covered by a particular bus service should not necessarily be confused with the distance for which a passenger qualifies for a fare exemption. Government Express services generally operate on routes of around 30 to 100 km, while LSS services typically cover 30 to 40 km and Deluxe services about 30 to 50 km.
Several routes have been identified in connection with the expansion, including Tiruchi-Dindigul, Thanjavur-Nagapattinam, Thanjavur-Velankanni, Tindivanam-Villupuram, Vriddhachalam-Tiruchi, Coimbatore-Palani, Palani-Dindigul, Coimbatore-Erode, Erode-Salem and Madurai-Virudhunagar.
A series of connecting services could potentially cover stretches between Chennai and the southern districts through Chengalpattu, Tindivanam, Villupuram, Vriddhachalam, Tiruchi, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Kovilpatti, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil and Kanyakumari.
However, the route list by itself does not confirm that an entire Chennai-to-Kanyakumari journey would qualify for free travel. It also does not clarify how transfers between services would be handled.
Passengers are therefore likely to need more detailed information on eligible routes, ticketing procedures, journey restrictions and transfer rules once the expanded scheme becomes operational.
For women travelling outside their usual local areas, checking the eligibility of each individual bus and route will be important before beginning a longer journey.