Chennai, Jan 12 (AHN) An estimated 11 lakh people left Chennai for various parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states over the weekend ahead of the Pongal festival, triggering a massive surge in demand for public transport and heavy congestion on major highways.

Railways handled the bulk of the festive rush. A total of 97 trains departed from Chennai Central and 85 trains from Chennai Egmore and Tambaram on Saturday and Sunday. Together, these services have the capacity to carry around 3.65 lakh passengers per day.

Railway sources said that over the past two days alone, more than seven lakh passengers are estimated to have travelled by train from the city. To ease the demand, additional special trains were operated to Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Tiruchy and other key destinations.

Road travel, however, was marked by long delays. National highways leading out of the city witnessed heavy congestion, particularly the GST Road, where vehicle queues stretched from Tambaram to Guduvanchery for several hours.

Traffic police deployed additional personnel and diversions at key junctions to manage the flow, but the volume of vehicles continued to test road capacity through the weekend.

The State Transport Department said bus services were significantly ramped up to accommodate travellers.

In an official statement, the department said that 5,510 buses were operated from the Kilambakkam, CMBT and MMBT bus termini over the weekend, ferrying around 2.47 lakh commuters.

As of January 11, about 2.18 lakh passengers had already reserved tickets in government buses. Officials added that, in addition to 2,092 regular services operated daily, a total of 10,245 special buses have been planned between January 9 and 14 to meet the festive demand.

The increase in bookings was attributed to the recent induction of multi-axle SETC buses and the addition of new buses across transport corporations.

Private omnibus services, which typically carry around 60,000 passengers a day, also saw a spike in demand. Fares on several routes rose by nearly 25 per cent, though operators maintained that prices remained within the approved tariff.

For multi-axle Volvo omnibuses, fares were capped between Rs 3,600 and Rs 4,000 on select long-distance routes. With Pongal celebrations peaking over the coming days, authorities expect continued pressure on transport networks and have urged travellers to plan return journeys in advance.