Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin flagged off 20 Volvo 9600 coaches for State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) at Island Grounds on Thursday, marking an expansion of the state's premium intercity transport services.
The 15-metre coaches, configured with 51 seats each, will operate on long-distance routes connecting major cities within Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states. The induction is part of the Government of Tamil Nadu's initiative to modernize public transport infrastructure.
The flag-off ceremony was attended by S. S. Sivasankar, Minister for Transport; P. K. Sekar Babu, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments; Shunchonngam Jatak Chiru, IAS, Principal Secretary, Transport Department; R. Mohan, Managing Director, SETC; T. Prabhushankar, IAS, Managing Director, Metropolitan Transport Corporation; Dayanidhi Maran, Member of Parliament; and Priya Rajan, Mayor, Greater Chennai Corporation.
Commenting on the occasion, Suresh Chettiar, Executive Vice President, Bus Division, VE Commercial Vehicles, said, "We are proud to partner with SETC and the Government of Tamil Nadu in strengthening Tamil Nadu's intercity transport ecosystem with the induction of Volvo 9600 coaches. These buses are engineered to deliver world-class comfort, safety, and operational reliability, supporting SETC's vision of providing a superior travel experience to passengers while raising benchmarks for public transport in Tamil Nadu."
The coaches feature seats with calf support and are manufactured at Volvo Buses India's facilities. The buses will serve routes including Chennai–Coimbatore, Chennai–Tiruppur, Chennai–Salem, Chennai–Thanjavur, Chennai–Trichy, Chennai–Nagercoil, Chennai–Truchendur, Chennai–Bengaluru, Coimbatore–Bengaluru, and Trichy–Truchendur.
Volvo Bus India operates as a division of VE Commercial Vehicles Limited, a joint venture between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors Limited established in August 2008.