[Hayek]

Interesting. And brings back fond memories of the early days of the Bombay Poona expressway, and how amazed I was to drive down at 130 kph in my Zen. Did a Bombay Poona Bombay run in my Superb over the last weekend. This expressway is still a pleasure to drive on despite traffic having picked up, and the road surface having broken a bit. Waiting for a chance to do the Delhi Agra run.

[infotech58]

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

Here are some videos.
Driving on the expressway:

i see a two wheeler in the video? are bikes allowed on the expressway? if yes, that is going to be another issue.

[Mik]

Originally Posted by infotech58

i see a two wheeler in the video? are bikes allowed on the expressway? if yes, that is going to be another issue.

Yes, bikes will be allowed and toll will be charged too. Its a good thing and i don't see why having bikers is an issue. Almost everyone in India is guilty of speeding, rash driving and letting loose the inner rossi/schummi on these kind of roads irrespective of their ride.

[samarth.bhatia]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Interesting. And brings back fond memories of the early days of the Bombay Poona expressway, and how amazed I was to drive down at 130 kph in my Zen. Did a Bombay Poona Bombay run in my Superb over the last weekend. This expressway is still a pleasure to drive on despite traffic having picked up, and the road surface having broken a bit. Waiting for a chance to do the Delhi Agra run.

I was living in Mumbai a while back, and that too right at the edge of the expressway. It was indeed a pleasure driving on it. Used to go there for drives alone, whenever I was feeling a bit low.
But my initial impression of the MPEW wasn't too good to be honest, that's because I had been driving all the way from Bangalore, and after the rather excellent stretches of smoooooooth tarmac in K'taka, MH highways were a let down. So I was looking forward to the MPEW to lift up my spirits. And I was faced with concrete roads that I generally dislike.

Eventually, I realized the importance of the road, and the concrete surface. Started enjoying it then. Especially after monsoons, it is a pleasure to see the small waterfalls and the greenery all around.

The Yamuna Expressway is surrounded by lush greenery in the farms. In the summers, it wouldn't be too good to look at, I guess.

Originally Posted by infotech58

i see a two wheeler in the video? are bikes allowed on the expressway? if yes, that is going to be another issue.

Originally Posted by Mik

Yes, bikes will be allowed and toll will be charged too. Its a good thing and i don't see why having bikers is an issue. Almost everyone in India is guilty of speeding, rash driving and letting loose the inner rossi/schummi on these kind of roads irrespective of their ride.

Two wheelers are allowed.
My personal opinion is that they should be. But only after there is proper implementation of the rules, i.e. speed limits, and no vehicles moving wrong way.
Until then, for their own safety, the two wheelers should stay away. Or at least the ones having less than 250cc engines should stay away.
There is also the danger of dogs coming onto the road. How, pray tell me, can you expect the riders to be safe with all this?

Personally, I enjoying riding once in a while. In fact I have some dreams of owning a nice cruiser one day. And the Yamuna E-way would be a nice road to ride on. But I wouldn't go there until it's made safer.

Cheers,
Sam

[AlphaKilo]

Some good and bad news from the Yamuna express way:

Good news: Jaypee Ad campaign - Nice - informs about the safety, features and etiquettes to be followed while on the E-Way:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7L8ea91myI&feature=player_embedded#!

(See all the videos)

And now for some bad news: See the pillock video ing while driving his safari at 140 and boasts the ride to be a "speed test"

Agra Noida Yamuna Express Way Driving Test for Speed - YouTube

Boasts that he has done 200 kmph on a Merc during heavy traffic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...O2iiW-vC8&NR=1

[sgiitk]

Not only that see the poor etiquette on the road, people dawdling in the rh lane with the middle lane free, and also the chap zigzagging all over.

They deserve to be hauled and locked up, and the keys thrown away.

[samarth.bhatia]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

Some good and bad news from the Yamuna express way:

Good news: Jaypee Ad campaign - Nice - informs about the safety, features and etiquettes to be followed while on the E-Way:

And now for some bad news: See the pillock video ing while driving his safari at 140 and boasts the ride to be a "speed test"

Boasts that he has done 200 kmph on a Merc during heavy traffic:

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Not only that see the poor etiquette on the road, people dawdling in the rh lane with the middle lane free, and also the chap zigzagging all over.

They deserve to be hauled and locked up, and the keys thrown away.

I was shocked to see a video by some guys from ************. This was a suggested video by Youtube. 6 cars. Zipping around on all the three lanes, the 3 series doing upwards of 180 kmph. In general, totally pathetic behaviour.

But here's what I think.
DND Flyway connecting Delhi to Noida is usually manned by the Traffic Police of Delhi with interceptors. So a road built by private developers is being manned by the city authorities.

Is greater Noida or Agra corporation up to the task?
I hope for the sake of all the users of this road that they are.

However good this road may be, over speeding is going to lead to disasters.

After the usual city driving, it was a bit hard to remember to return to the middle lane after I was done overtaking. But eventually, I got used to it. So much so that I was doing that on the G.Noida to Noida stretch as well (on the way back home).

The onus lies on both the users and the authorities to enable safe driving on this road.

Cheers,
Sam

[sgiitk]

Globally the cops normally wink at about 10-20% above the limit. Like in the UK anything above 85mph, if detected is trouble. Scandinavia is tougher - max 10%. I think the Yamuna Expressway has its own patrols - I am not sure who controls them. I agree 'fierce policing' esp in the beginning is a must.

Louts must be prosecuted and shown up for what they are. Esp well heeled louts in fancy cars must be made an example of. Theymust be told that there is something called the law (also etiquette).

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Globally the cops normally wink at about 10-20% above the limit. Like in the UK anything above 85mph, if detected is trouble. Scandinavia is tougher - max 10%.

The trouble is our speed limits are insanely low. For example, the limit on the Bombay Poona expressway is 80kph, whereas the road was originally designed for 120 kph speeds. Net result, everybody breaks the law by a wide margin, and people assume there is nothing wrong with doing 160 or 180 on it. A sensible 110 or 120 kph speed limit, combined with a 70 kph minimum speed limit and strict enforcement at a 10% tolerance would make it safer.

Similarly, there is a 50 kph speed limit on the Bandra Worli sea link, which is perfectly safe at 100 kph and a 30kph limit (viz below UK levels for school zones) on the JJ flyover.

Stupid laws engender contempt for the law amongst citizens, and lead to lawlessness and reckless behaviour.

From what I can see of this new road, the speed limit should be 120 kph, and a minimum speed limit is a must too. An excessively low limit will not work.

[sgiitk]

How would you react to the 100kph limit in Holland / Belgium. Driving in from France or Germany you feel that you are not moving at all.

I will suggest rationalising speed limits - 50kph on urban City roads, 70 kph on Dual Carriageways, 80-100kph on NH2 type of highways, and 120 on the limited access roads.

If I remember correctly Pune - Mumbai was lowered from 120 to 100 due to a large number of burst tyres.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

How would you react to the 100kph limit in Holland / Belgium. Driving in from France or Germany you feel that you are not moving at all.

I will suggest rationalising speed limits - 50kph on urban City roads, 70 kph on Dual Carriageways, 80-100kph on NH2 type of highways, and 120 on the limited access roads.

If I remember correctly Pune - Mumbai was lowered from 120 to 100 due to a large number of burst tyres.

I would agree with anything starting with a 100. In Uk, limits are 60 mph on single carriageways, 70 mph on dual carriage ways, 30 mph in normal urban roads and 20 mph in school zones. But 80 kph on expressways is dumb. Bombay Poona is 80 kph - and burst tyres was just an excuse. Tyres burst due to poor maintenance and under inflation, not due to 120 kph speeds. (160 kph is a different story)

[sgiitk]

I agree but then the limit went up from 80 to 100 on E'ways only recently. Remember at the inauguration of the Yamuna E'way Ram Gopal Yadav had proposed raising the limit to 120kph.

[samarth.bhatia]

The truth is, vehicles in India, even personal ones are not always well maintained.
The interest of people is to get the car going, regardless of how good or bad.

Until we can see changes in the entire system, a limited access road like the Yamuna expressway will remain prone to various factors:

1. Worn out (read. nearly bald tires), that too on personal cars. Don't even get me started about the commercial vehicles.

2. Critical parts failure in the vehicles, due to poor maintenance standards.

3. Bad discipline levels in the users.

Until these things get sorted out, there is no use of a limited access road, because it won't be possible for the E-way authorities to check these before allowing a vehicle to enter the e-way.

The good thing is as these kind of roads grow, maybe the awareness of these things, and the relevant enforcement will grow too. If it does, we would be looking at truely world class road travel, not just world class roads.

Cheers,
Sam

[_raVan_]

Be careful about your fuel stats when driving on the Yamuna Expressway Read the report below:

Out of fuel on e-way, family sweats for hours - The Times of India

[Dry Ice]

Thanks for the nice and detailed account Samarth and Sameer!

Tempting proposition - Delhi to Agra in 2 hours. What is the toll going to be once they start collecting it? Any photo of the toll rates board?