Chennai Launches 25 Special Buses for School Students; Deputy CM Inaugurates New Subway in Bojarajan Nagar

Chennai Aug 2025 : In a bid to curb the risky practice of students travelling on the footboards of crowded buses during peak hours, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) on Monday rolled out 25 special bus services exclusively for school children. These buses will allow students to travel free of cost, providing them with a safer and more reliable mode of transport.

According to officials, the new services will operate in the morning between 6.50 am and 8.05 am, ensuring timely arrival at schools, and in the afternoon between 1.50 pm and 4.10 pm for return trips. Each bus is expected to make 50 trips daily, connecting schools with terminals and halting only at designated stops to streamline movement.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin flagged off the first special student bus from Lady Willingdon Higher Secondary School, Triplicane, where he also inaugurated the distribution of free bus passes to students.

An official statement revealed that a total of 35.12 lakh students across Tamil Nadu will benefit from free bus passes in government buses, including 4.1 lakh students in Chennai and its suburbs under MTC.

“These buses will benefit around 2,500 to 3,000 students daily,” said MTC Managing Director T. Prabhushankar, adding that the services are strictly for school children and adults will not be permitted to board. “In the second phase, we plan to introduce special services for college students, but they too will not be allowed to use buses designated for school students,” he clarified.

Route Planning and Safety Measures

MTC officials explained that the routes were finalised after detailed consultations with the School Education Department, Chennai Corporation, and Traffic Police. Special teams studied high-demand and congested routes where students often faced difficulties. Based on their findings, 25 routes were identified.

Some of the key routes include:

• Kannagi Nagar – St. Francis Xavier Middle School (5C ET)
• MKB Nagar – Murthu Zavia Oriental HSS – Chepauk (2A)
• Iyappanthangal – Government Girls HSS, Ashok Nagar (11M)
• Iyappanthangal – Army Public School, Nandambakkam (49)
• Semmancheri – YMCA School, Thoraipakkam (102C/6D)
• Vinayagapuram – Government Girls HSS, Perambur (142)

To ensure student safety, the MTC confirmed that only buses fitted with automatic doors will be used for these services, thereby preventing students from travelling on footboards. Currently, the corporation operates a fleet of 3,200 buses, and dedicated vehicles have been earmarked for the student initiative.

New Subway in Bojarajan Nagar

On the same day, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin also inaugurated a new subway at Bojarajan Nagar near Royapuram, a long-awaited project aimed at easing connectivity issues for residents. Surrounded by railway tracks on three sides, the locality had long suffered due to dependence on level crossings.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 30.13 crore from the capital funds of the Chennai Corporation, the 207-metre-long and 6-metre-wide subway is equipped with a dedicated drainage system, an 85 HP motor pump, and a generator to prevent flooding during monsoon. The facility is expected to benefit nearly one lakh residents of Bojarajan Nagar, Srinivasa Nagar, and Mint Modern City.

In addition to the subway, civic amenities worth Rs 1.41 crore were also inaugurated, marking a significant boost to local infrastructure.

With the twin initiatives — special student bus services and improved urban connectivity — the state government reaffirmed its focus on student safety, urban mobility, and welfare-oriented governance.