Chennai, 02 Oct
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Friday launched the expanded Vetri Payanam scheme at Chennai’s Koyambedu bus terminus, bringing additional categories of government buses under the free travel programme for women.
The inauguration coincided with Gandhi Jayanti. Vijay paid floral tributes to a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the terminus before introducing the expanded services.
He then boarded a government bus operating between Chennai and Kancheepuram, handed free tickets to women passengers and greeted them. The interaction marked the commencement of the wider travel concession across the State.
Under the expanded programme, women will be eligible for fare-free travel on 12,692 government buses. The newly covered categories include Express, LSS and Deluxe services in metropolitan and urban areas, as well as suburban ordinary buses.
The concession also extends to ordinary services covering distances exceeding 40 kilometres in hill regions, widening the programme’s reach to women travelling on eligible routes outside major urban centres.
According to figures announced for the scheme, an estimated 84.32 lakh women passengers are expected to benefit each day. The expansion is intended to improve access to public transport and reduce travel expenses for women throughout Tamil Nadu.
The inclusion of additional service categories gives eligible passengers a wider choice of buses for their journeys. Women using the newly covered services will no longer have to pay fares where the concession applies.
With suburban ordinary buses and specified hill services included, the programme now reaches beyond metropolitan and urban networks. Its coverage remains linked to the government bus categories and routes identified under the scheme.
Friday’s launch on the Chennai–Kancheepuram service demonstrated the expanded benefit, with the Chief Minister distributing tickets to passengers. The initiative broadens the availability of free bus journeys for women across urban, suburban and eligible hill routes.
