11 AC bus shelters to come up in Chennai

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the Greater Chennai Police signed Memoranda of Understanding with seven institutions to construct 11 air-conditioned bus shelters across the city under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.The agreements were exchanged at Ripon Buildings in the presence of Chennai Corporation Commissioner G.S. Sameeran and Police Commissioner A. Amalraj on September 1, 2026.The new facilities will be established at AG-DMS on Anna Salai and the Mylapore bus stand by Apollo Hospitals, on Jawaharlal Nehru Road in Vadapalani by Kauvery Hospitals, and at the Vijay Nagar bus terminal by Gurunanak College. SIMS Hospital will set up two shelters near its premises in Vadapalani. Rohini Hotels will build a shelter at Little Mount, while SRM Prime Hospital will construct facilities near Avichi School and the Alandur Metro. Freyer International Logistic will establish shelters on the northern and southern sides of Egmore.“These companies are converting the bus shelters situated near their premises into air-conditioned facilities through their corporate CSR initiatives or outreach programmes. The GCC has created a very beautiful design for these air-conditioned shelters. The idea is to have a standardised approach so that wherever you look in the city, there are similar designs; only the company adverts will change, allowing the respective institutions to display their own advertisements,” said Mr. Amalraj.He added: “The personnel from these companies must ensure the shelters are cleaned daily, make the necessary security arrangements, and maintain general cleanliness. Specifically, they must provide clean drinking water facilities for public use and ensure that the air-conditioning is always operational.”Foot-over bridgesMr. Sameeran said, “Further, 56 locations have been selected for constructing foot-over bridges as well. Out of those, we are currently preparing a detailed financial feasibility report for 10 locations in the first phase. Apart from this, there is a large bus stand in areas like Anna Square. We are going to construct an even larger bus shelter at that location, which will have additional amenities. In certain places, we are setting up modern bus shelters without air-conditioning. Altogether, there are 1,562 bus shelters within our city corporation limits. As many bus shelters have been disturbed due to the Metro work, we are going to increase this number and bring in new bus shelters.”AmenitiesThe standardised structures will measure eight feet in depth and between 20 and 40 feet in width. Amenities will include air-conditioned waiting halls, puff panel roofing, toughened safety glass, CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi, accessible ramps, bus route information, and USB charging points. Panic buttons and drinking water facilities will also be installed.The recurring expenditure for each shelter is estimated at ₹40,000 to ₹48,000. In return, the GCC has permitted the firms to utilise the space for their advertisements free of cost, according to a press release.The authorities also plan to construct foot-overbridges equipped with escalators and lifts at 56 locations under a public-private partnership model, with feasibility reports currently being prepared for the first 10 sites, the release said. Published - September 09, 2026 01:33 pm IST