Bengaluru special buses for Diwali will be distributed across multiple boarding points outside the city’s main central terminals this year, as the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation seeks to reduce congestion on major outbound roads. A total of 2,600 special buses will operate from Bengaluru to 123 destinations, including locations within Karnataka and neighbouring states.
The move changes the usual arrangement in which a large share of festival services departed from the Kempegowda Bus Terminal in Majestic. Some services also operated from the Shanthinagar Bus Station and the Mysuru Road Satellite Bus Station. The concentration of buses and passengers at these terminals had contributed to long queues and traffic slowdowns on the Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hosur and Ballari roads during major festivals, according to the report by Prajavani.
Under the revised plan, only 89 special buses will leave from the Kempegowda Bus Terminal. The largest allocations will be from the Vijayanagar BMTC bus station, with 96 buses, and the Shanthinagar bus station, with 73. The Mysuru Road Satellite Bus Station will handle 67 services, while 59 will depart from the Yeshwanthpur BMTC bus station and 55 from 18th Cross in Malleswaram.
Other departure points include the Yelahanka Upanagara BMTC bus station, with 15 buses; the Basaveshwaranagar TTMC, with 30; the Jayanagar 4th Block TTMC, with 28; the ITI Main Gate BMTC stop, with 13; Chikkallasandra, with five; and Naidu Layout, with two. The distribution is intended to allow passengers to board closer to different parts of Bengaluru instead of converging on Majestic before leaving the city.
KSRTC has also opened advance seat reservations for all special buses through its website, www.ksrtc.in. In previous festival periods, advance booking was available only on a limited number of services, while passengers often had to travel to Majestic to find out whether a bus was available for their destination. The corporation said the expanded reservation facility would allow travellers to check and book services before reaching a terminal.
The special services will connect Bengaluru with 123 destinations. Within Karnataka, listed destinations include Mangaluru, Udupi, Kundapura, Davanagere, Hubballi, Belagavi, Shivamogga, Sagara and Hosapete. The corporation has also planned services to destinations outside the state, including Tiruchi, Tirupati, Kumbakonam, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruvannamalai, Puducherry, Mantralayam, Hyderabad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kannur and Munnar.
The corporation has said the plan will also extend special services to selected taluk centres that previously did not receive direct festival buses when arrangements were focused mainly on district headquarters. The departure-point strategy and advance booking system are the stated operational measures for managing the expected festival travel demand while reducing the pressure created by large bus movements inside Bengaluru.
