Lack of automatic doors on private buses in Coimbatore city makes travel hazardous for commuters. On overcrowded private buses during peak hours, passengers are often forced to travel on footboard.

“It is scary to travel on buses without doors, especially when they are overcrowded and move at high speed,” says Manoranjitham, a commuter. S.V. Sriram, a commuter who boards buses at Sitra stop daily, says footboard travellers face the daily risk of losing balance on speeding private buses.

In March, an elderly woman lost balance and fell out of the front entrance of a private bus at Kovaipudur and was fatally run over by the same bus.

A good number of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses in the city have automatic doors, and police say private buses, too, ought to have doors for passenger safety.

A.S. Vishwanathan, Regional Transport Officer, Coimbatore North, said the stipulation of operating buses with doors is strictly enforced when new vehicles are registered. However, the buses registered before this stipulation took effect continue to operate without doors, and the officials are unable to do anything much about it. “We can only request them [to fix the doors],” the RTO said.

K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary, Coimbatore Consumer Cause, said the revised body code rule 2025 requires all buses to have doors. “Private buses do have doors at the time of registration, but are removed later. It is the responsibility of the RTOs to tighten inspection.”

Moreover, more buses must be operated by the TNSTC during peak hour to prevent footboard travel on private buses, he emphasised.