Bus, air and rail services to Bengaluru from TN affected, many stranded

BENGALURU: Cyclone Fengal has affected transportation between Chennai and Bengaluru. Bus services have been disrupted, causing  inconvenience to passengers. The cyclone has brought heavy rainfall to 13 districts in Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Villupuram and Kallakurichi. Transportation is has been in these parts and there are no direct bus facilities from Bengaluru. The passengers of these areas are forced to take other buses to reach their hometown.

As a result, bus services from these districts to Bengaluru have been suspended. Passengers who had arrived in Bengaluru for work are struggling to find buses to return to their destinations.

The number of buses plying from Karnataka to Chennai and Puducherry has also decreased. A man who had come for work was stranded at the Shantinagar bus stand as he was not being able to find a bus to go get back to Puducherry.

Bus services to flood-affected areas have been completely suspended, and buses are operating only until safe areas. Due to disruptions in flight and train services, passengers are relying on buses to travel. The IMD has predicted heavy rainfall for the next three to four days, which may lead to a complete suspension of bus services.Jayant Babu, a transport staffer, said there used to be 25 to 30 buses plying from Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru every day from various cities. “Now, half of the buses have stopped running due to a shortfall of passengers. Due to the disruption in flight and train services, people are still traveling on buses”, he said.

Shivakumar, a passenger, said he was supposed to go to Puducherry. “There is no direct bus available here, and I had to wait for three hours at the Shantinagar bus stand. I was not getting a train ticket either. There is a connecting bus, but they are not allowing us on as the bus was full. I kept trying for three days to get buses”, he said.