Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Limited (TNSTC) is a public transport bus operator in Tamil Nadu, India. It operates Intercity bus services to cities within Tamil Nadu, and from Tamil Nadu to its neighbouring states. It also operates Public transport bus service in many cities of Tamil Nadu, with the exception of Chennai, where the public bus service is operated by MTC, a subsidiary of TNSTC. It is the largest government bus transport corporation in India, and the biggest corporation in the world after the bifurcation of TNSTC Kumbakonam is largest bus corporation in Tamilnadu.
History
The planning concussion, in consultation with this ministry, have advised the state government to set up a road transport corporation under the Transport Corporations Act and the matter is under the consideration of the state government. Operation of nationalized transport services through a corporation is favoured so as to achieve railroad coordination, and to ensure operation on business lines. The general policy of the government is to establish corporations and the planning commission have advised that if the state governments want to nationalise the road services, they should form corporations and they should not be run as far as possible through government departments. It has also been suggested by the planning commission that the railways should participate or contribute to the state governments for running all the nationalised road services only when they decide to set up a corporation.
About
TNSTC is fully owned and operated by the Government of Tamil Nadu. TNSTC has started online booking facilities to book bus tickets between major cities served by TNSTC. It caters to all the districts within Tamil Nadu and also operates services to neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and union territory of Puduchery. Until 1997, the transport corporation was divided into 21 divisions which was later merged to form eight divisions. TNSTC owns 321 depots and five workshops with a combined fleet strength of 21,678 buses. TNSTC also offers contract and tourist services. Every bus owned by the corporation displays a portrait of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar along with a two-line verse from Thirukkural inside the bus.
Structure
| Name | Old name(s) (before 1996) | Headquarters | Districts Covered/Areas Served | Registration | HQ Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNSTC, Coimbatore | Bharathiar, Cheran, Jeeva | Coimbatore | Coimbatore, Erode, Nilgiris, Tirupur. | TN-33, TN-38, TN-39, TN-43 | 191/CBE Coimbatore |
| TNSTC, Kumbakonam | Chozhan, Dheeran Chinnamalai, Marudhu Pandiar, Veeran Azhagu Muthukone | Kumbakonam | Ariyalur, Chidambaram, Karaikal, Karaikudi, Karur, Mayiladuthurai Nagapattinam, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam , Thiruvarur, Tiruchirapalli | TN-45, TN-49, TN-55, TN-63, TN-68 | 454/TAJ Thanjavur |
| TNSTC, Madurai | Pandiyan, Rani Mangammal, Veeran Sundaralingam | Madurai | Dindigul, Madurai, Theni, Virudhunagar and Partially Sivagangai District | TN-57, TN-58, TN-59, TN-67 | 459/MDU Madurai |
| TNSTC, Salem | Anna, Annai Sathya | Salem | Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Salem | TN-29, TN-30 | 394/SLM Salem |
| TNSTC, Tirunelveli | Kattabomman, Nesamony | Tirunelveli | Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar | TN-72, TN-74, TN-76 | 464/TIN Tirunelveli |
| TNSTC, Viluppuram | MGR, Pattukottai Azhagiri, Thanthai Periyar | Viluppuram | Cuddalore, Kanchipuram, Kallakurichi, Thiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Viluppuram, Chengalpattu | TN-21, TN-23, TN-25, TN-32,TN 31 | 19/VPM Viluppuram |
Types of buses
TNSTC operates buses of various classes to cater to different sections of the public:
- Town buses and low floor buses operated on intercity routes.
- Moffussil buses, largest in its stable, ply on inter-town routes and cater to a majority of the traffic
- Deluxe buses operated between major Cities.
- Ultra deluxe coaches with recliner seats, operated between important commercial centres to major cities.
- Air-conditioned buses operated in intracity routes operated by MTC.
- Air-conditioned busses with 3*2 seat configuration named as Economy AC seater services were introduced in 2019 connecting all district headquarters to major towns.
- SETC operates air-conditioned buses from all district headquarters to Chennai.
- A/C seater cum sleeper and A/C sleeper buses are operated between major cities and towns to Chennai and Bengaluru as well as other major cities and interstate.
- Non-A/C seater cum sleeper and Non-A/C Sleeper are also operated.
TNSTC and SETC use custom-made buses built on Ashok Leyland and TATA-supplied chassis. All divisions have individual own coach building units.
Other ventures
In 1984, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Limited established Institute of Road and Transport Technology in Erode. In 2013, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Limited established Amma Kudineer (Amma packaged drinking water) which is involved in the production and packaging of mineral water in one-litre plastic bottles, and selling them in long-distance running state-owned buses and in bus stations. The price has been fixed at ₹10 per bottle, and the production plant is set up in Gummidipoondi in Thiruvallur district.