Heavy passenger movement at Chennai’s Kilambakkam bus terminus after the Ayudha Pooja holidays and weekend triggered traffic congestion on the GST Road on Wednesday, as returning travellers crossed the busy highway to reach city buses.
People who had travelled to their native places in southern Tamil Nadu began returning to Chennai in large numbers from Tuesday night. The inflow increased further in the early hours of Wednesday, when buses arrived at the terminus one after another.
The rush was concentrated around the city bus boarding area inside the Kilambakkam terminus. Passengers arriving from southern and central districts were seeking MTC buses to reach Chennai and its suburbs, adding to the movement of people within the transport hub.
However, several buses were reportedly dropping passengers along the GST Road opposite the terminus instead of bringing them directly into the facility. Passengers then crossed the highway in groups to enter the terminus and board city buses, causing severe congestion on both sides of the road.
The disruption highlights the operational difficulty of managing transfers between intercity services and local public transport at Kilambakkam, particularly when holiday travel produces a concentrated surge in arrivals. The movement of passengers across the road affected vehicular traffic near the terminus and created an unsafe crossing situation for people carrying luggage.
Passengers said the problem could be eased by completing and opening the proposed skywalk linking the Kilambakkam bus terminus with the railway station. The pedestrian facility is intended to provide a safer connection between the two transport facilities and reduce the need for passengers to cross the GST Road at ground level.
According to the report, construction of the skywalk has progressed slowly for more than two years. Its completion could give passengers a dedicated route between the bus terminus and railway station, although the current congestion also involves the way arriving buses set down passengers and how they access MTC services inside the terminus.
The episode places renewed attention on the importance of safe interchange design at a transport hub serving passengers from Chennai and several southern and central districts. When intercity buses, city buses, railway access and pedestrian movement are not connected within a controlled circulation system, passenger transfers can spill onto surrounding roads and disrupt through traffic.
Passengers have urged the authorities to expedite the remaining work and open the skywalk at the earliest. The immediate issue reported at the terminus remains the management of passenger arrivals and crossings on the GST Road during heavy-return periods.
