DUE FOR RETIREMENT: An MTC bus, which broke down in Gandhi Nagar on New Avadi Road on Monday. — Photo: S.Thanthoni

CHENNAI: With the rising demand for more bus services, the ageing fleet of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) is finding it increasingly difficult to meet passenger needs.

Frequent breakdowns, especially during peak hours on arterial or crowded main roads, have resulted in people being stranded on their way to work or school, or while returning home.

In the last week, at least half a dozen buses broke down at key spots in Ayanvaram, Adyar, Tiruvanmaiyur and Mandaveli areas.

Oil blocks, clutch failures and deflated tyres were the three main reasons, which led to the breaking down of MTC services, the authorities said. However, they claimed that the number of breakdowns had not increased.

On an average, about 100 cases of breakdown were reported on working days and it would come down to 70 vehicles on weekends, as the number of vehicles operated on weekends are lesser than normal.

Various factors contributed to the vehicles breaking down on the middle of the road, including the fact that 60 per cent of the MTC's operating fleet comprised old buses, over eight years old.

Current strength

At present, the MTC has a fleet strength of a little over 2700 buses of which about 2,500 are operational, the officials said. The older vehicles plying on the city routes numbered about 1,600.

On most occasions, it is this type of buses that caused problems on the roads, resulting in traffic snarls, officials said.

Of the 1,600 old vehicles, about 250 vehicles had been brought into the MTC from other transport corporations in the State, where they had already served for over six years. Such buses were inducted into the MTC fleet even after they had outlived their life span leading to breakdowns and other technical failures, said the officials.

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