The ongoing ₹16.30-crore integrated bus stand project at Tiruvarur has raised hopes of commuters who have been seeking better services from the old bus stand in the town.
The project, taken up under the Kalaignar Nagarpura Mempattu Thittam (KNMT), envisages the reconstruction of the old bus stand with 120 shops and the required number of bus bays. The State Express Transport Corporation, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Kumbakonam Division, and private mofussil bus service providers, had shifted their operations to the new bus stand constructed at a cost of ₹13.36 crore at Vilamal on the outskirts of Tiruvarur town. Built in 2019, the new bus stand has 60 shops, two hotels, passenger waiting rooms, police outpost, a cloakroom, drinking water dispenser units, and toilets. All the outstation buses originating from and passing through Tiruvarur are operated from the bus stand, which is spread over 11 acres of land and can accommodate 35 buses at a time.
After shifting the services to the new bus stand, the commuters travelling from Tiruvarur town to important towns board the buses at the new terminus. The old bus stand was used as a pick up and drop point for a few mofussil services operated by the SETC, TNSTC and the private bus operators.
The remodelling of the old bus stand as an Integrated Bus Stand Complex has raised hopes, among commuters, of better services between the new and old bus stand, said S. Senthil of Tiruvarur, a government employee working in Nagapattinam.
Operation of more town services from the old bus stand was expected by the commuters since the vegetable and fish markets located close to it were also being renovated under the KNMT scheme.
