About 30-35 years ago Chennai Metro buses were painted red. Dull red, to be precise. Then the color was changed to Green, azhukkup pachchai. This green color continued till recently.
To digress a bit, the busfares in Chennai are atrociously, ridiculously LOW compared to all other Metro cities. Even today, with a minimum fare of just 2-00, one can travel for upto 3 km !! From Ambattur to Mandaveli, a distance of about 25 km, the fare is just 6.50. Ridiculous, I would say.
Successive Governments could not raise the fares for fear of losing votes. And so the fare
structure remainde unaltered for decades. However, recently within a year or so, some bright chap in the Govt has thought of an ingenious way - purchase new buses, paint these in different colours, call them "deluxe" (சொகுசுப் பேருந்துகள்) or "low level flooring buses" (the footboard in these buses are low) (தாழ்தள சொகுசு), and charge four times the previous fare.
Thus, today, I see buses painted in all the colours and shades of the rainbow and more, each one charging a different fare ! Another "brilliant" idea is to add an "M" to the route number (M 15, for example) and charge 50 paise more !! All M series buses charge 50 paise more.
There are Volvo AC buses too ! These AC buses are run, in my opinion, just to show that Chennai too is a modern City like other five Metros. The charge from Central Station to Mandaveli is 20.00 in this bus, and you will see hardly one or two passengers travelling in these hi-tech buses.
The decades-old rickety and dirty green colour buses (nearly 50% of the MTC fleet is still green buses) also chug alongside the Volvo AC buses, with 2-00 as minimum fare.
rajappa
11:10 on 13 Jan 2008
To digress a bit, the busfares in Chennai are atrociously, ridiculously LOW compared to all other Metro cities. Even today, with a minimum fare of just 2-00, one can travel for upto 3 km !! From Ambattur to Mandaveli, a distance of about 25 km, the fare is just 6.50. Ridiculous, I would say.
Successive Governments could not raise the fares for fear of losing votes. And so the fare
structure remainde unaltered for decades. However, recently within a year or so, some bright chap in the Govt has thought of an ingenious way - purchase new buses, paint these in different colours, call them "deluxe" (சொகுசுப் பேருந்துகள்) or "low level flooring buses" (the footboard in these buses are low) (தாழ்தள சொகுசு), and charge four times the previous fare.
Thus, today, I see buses painted in all the colours and shades of the rainbow and more, each one charging a different fare ! Another "brilliant" idea is to add an "M" to the route number (M 15, for example) and charge 50 paise more !! All M series buses charge 50 paise more.
There are Volvo AC buses too ! These AC buses are run, in my opinion, just to show that Chennai too is a modern City like other five Metros. The charge from Central Station to Mandaveli is 20.00 in this bus, and you will see hardly one or two passengers travelling in these hi-tech buses.
The decades-old rickety and dirty green colour buses (nearly 50% of the MTC fleet is still green buses) also chug alongside the Volvo AC buses, with 2-00 as minimum fare.
rajappa
11:10 on 13 Jan 2008
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