Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus

History

In the 1990s, inter-city buses from Chennai were operated from Broadway bus terminus in George Town and from few other locations such as Saidapet. As a part of the first master plan for the development of the city, a new bus terminus was planned on the Inner Ring Road in Koyambedu between the South Asian Games village and the vegetable market. Construction of the new Chennai mofussil bus terminus started on 6 June 1999 and it was inaugurated on 18 November 2002 for public use by J. Jayalalithaa, then chief minister of Tamil Nadu. On 9 October 2018, the Government of Tamil Nadu renamed the bus terminus as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G.R. Bus Terminus in honour of former chief minister M. G. Ramachandran.

Infrastructure and operations

It is spread over an area of 36 acre with a built-up area of 17840 ft2. The terminus is operated by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and has six platforms with 180 bus bays. In 2005, the terminus was accredited with the ISO 9001:2000 quality certification for its quality management. It has a parking area for 60 buses and can accommodate 270 buses at any given time. It has a 25000 ft2 open parking space for auto rickshaws, taxis and private cars, and 16000 sqft parking space for two-wheeler. Additional underground parking lots were added in 2010 and 2013. Other facilities and amenities include restaurants, locker rooms, travel offices, shops, supermarkets, ATMs, dorimtories, toilets, drinking water dispensers, emergency care centre, pharmacies, Wifi, and access facilities for the disabled.

Connections

Chennai Metro Rail has an elevated Metro railway station adjacent to the bus terminus, which forms part of the Green Line.

References

References

1. Sharma, Reethu. (23 August 2014). "Chennai turns 375: Things you should know about 'Gateway to South India'". One India.
2. (13 January 2012). "It was part of the first master plan". [[The Hindu]].
3. (19 November 2002). "Jayalalithaa inaugurates new bus terminus in Chennai". [[The Hindu]].
4. (10 October 2018). "CMBT renamed as 'Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Bus Terminus'". [[The New Indian Express]].
5. (28 December 2005). "Koyambedu bus terminus gets ISO certification". [[The Hindu]].
6. "Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus". [[Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority]].
7. (27 December 2010). "Underground parking inaugurated". [[The Times of India]].
8. (15 March 2013). "Two-tier parking facility at CMBT terminus soon". [[The Deccan Chronicle]].
9. (8 November 2012). "No space in Chennai bus terminus for extra buses during Diwali". [[The Times of India]].
10. (29 June 2010). "Elevated metro stations to come up at 10 places". [[The Times of India]].
11. (29 June 2015). "Chennai's first metro ride begins". [[The Hindu]].