Chennai - Trivandrum : Route Queries

PRADEEP KUMAR · 12th August 2010, 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by vishnurp99

I am planning to drive from tambaram to tvm just before onam. Please let me know if the condition of road is good enough and if there is any roadwork/diversion that i should be aware of. I plan to start by 2.30 afternoon from tambaram and reach nagarkoil by around 10 and nagarkoil to tvm after that. Doing this to beat the nagercoil-tvm traffic. Planning for 10 minute breaks every 150 km odd in this drive.. Let me know if 8 hrs is enough from tambaram to nagarcoil or if it's too ambitious. I will be the only one driving.

Hi,
CHENNAI-NAGERKOIL is close to 700 kms. You will need a min of 8.30-9hrs if you are a consistant driver.
I have done the same stretch in 9 hrs never exceeding 100km/h which is what i follow for long in my scorpio.

tnx

nairrk · 12th August 2010, 09:47

Tambaram-nagercoil 8 hours is not sufficient. I think you can calculate roughly 10hours and if you reach earlier then good.
Nagercoil to tvm- I have driven this road one month back and there were potholes in many places. It took me 3 hours (I left tvm at 9.15am and reached nagercoil around
12.15pm - traffic enroute as one has to cover many small town places in this route). However if you are driving after 19pm then may be able to reach in less than 2.30hours!

aargee · 12th August 2010, 09:53

Chennai - Nagercoil will take about 10+ hours with a break of about an hour & you should be driving close to maniac speeds. Volvo does Chennai-Nagercoil in 11 hours with speeds over 120 Kmph.

nairrk · 12th August 2010, 09:59

And they (volvo) normnally have 2 drivers to keep changing the driving hence they maintain the speed and running time, whereas @pradeep kumar is going to drive alone hence may need some stopovers inbetween??

vishnurp99 · 13th August 2010, 17:56

Thanks for responses all. I will plan for 10 hrs since i am driving it for the first time. I will update the forum with the response once i reach tvm. My ride is a Figo tdci titanium. I don't think anything above 120 is safe on that and apparently there are lot of toll gates etc.

thomasmatthew · 13th August 2010, 18:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee

Chennai - Nagercoil will take about 10+ hours with a break of about an hour & you should be driving close to maniac speeds. Volvo does Chennai-Nagercoil in 11 hours with speeds over 120 Kmph.

Volvo's these days are faster. I regularly take SRM Volvo, which i board from Perungalathur(Near Tambaram) around 8:45 PM and reach Trivandrum by 7:30 AM. During this time the Nagercoil-Trivandrum stretch is covered in around 1.5 hours

aargee · 13th August 2010, 22:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomasmatthew

Volvo's these days are faster.

Thomas, my post clearly says from Chennai which starts from Koyambedu at sharp 6:00 PM & not from Perungalathur. If you calculate from this point, Nagercoil is reached by 5:00 AM which is 11 hours.

nairrk · 14th August 2010, 10:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee

Thomas, my post clearly says from Chennai which starts from Koyambedu at sharp 6:00 PM & not from Perungalathur. If you calculate from this point, Nagercoil is reached by 5:00 AM which is 11 hours.

+
Yes, remember, I used to travel in this bus from Koyambedu to Trivandrum
(ofcourse 4 years back) and the bus reaches Thampanur at around 6.45/
7 am!!

bijujj · 26th August 2010, 11:19

Planning to drive from TVM to Chennai. What are the good places to take rest and have food on the way. Do we get decent places by the side of the NH or do we need to get into the cities on the way?

ampere · 26th August 2010, 14:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by bijujj

Planning to drive from TVM to Chennai. What are the good places to take rest and have food on the way. Do we get decent places by the side of the NH or do we need to get into the cities on the way?

I dont remember seeing any on the Trichy-Madurai 45B!
Those I thought were the best cities for breaks. But not sure of good hotels on the highway. Even I would be interested to know about them.

thomasmatthew · 26th August 2010, 15:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by bijujj

Planning to drive from TVM to Chennai. What are the good places to take rest and have food on the way. Do we get decent places by the side of the NH or do we need to get into the cities on the way?

I dont think you would find much on the highway. After Nagercoil, you have bypass roads for all towns till chennai. As you have mentioned you would have to get into cities ( Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Trichy etc). If you start early from Trivandrum you should be in time for a breakfast either at Nagercoil/Tirunelveli and a late lunch at Trichy

bijujj · 30th August 2010, 15:05

Trip Completed.

Start Time from Trivandrum (Nalanchira) 5:45 AM
Nagercoil -- 7:30 AM
Tirunelveli -- 8:30 AM
Madurai -- 10:10 AM
Trichy -- Arrived 12:15, started 12:45
Undurpet -- 2:25 PM
Chengelpettu -- 4:15PM
Saidapet -- 5:15 PM (Tambaram onwards it was peak traffic)

Stops

Breakfast was handled with bread/bun/coffee brought from home after Tirunelveli, near a petrol bunk.

Lunch at Hotel Amutha in Trichy. Later found Hotel Arya on the way out to NH45. Could find one more hotel on the way near a reliance pertrol bunk. That might be the best best, as we need not enter Trichy at all.

Stopped at Anandabhavan in Undurpet. That is also on the side of NH45 and a decent hotel (we reached at 2:30PM and is around 560 KMs away from TVM).

In addition stopped at 2 more petrol bunks for refilling.

Route.

TVM- Nagercoil NH47
Nagercoil-NH7 via NH47B
Go NH7 all the way near Madurai.
Take bypass to NH45B (via veeralimalai). You need to watch out for the road to the right going to Rameswaram/Trichy Airport.
NH45B till Trichy and NH45 till Chennai.

There were slight diversions in a few places. Otherwise in general excellent roads.

Overall Time including breaks is 11:30 hrs.

narayan · 14th October 2010, 10:27

Guys
am planning to do the TVM-CHENNAI route either tomorow or day after.
earlier was planning on a stop over somewhere in the mid point but going by the time taken I guess a stop over is not required.

I see 2 options for the Tirunelveli Madurai stretch

1) as mentioned by bijujj above
2) cut away from NH7 at Kovilpatti onto NH45B and continue all the way to Trichy

which of these is better ?

thanks

pypkmsrikanth · 14th October 2010, 10:43

Narayan the best option for you is to stick to NH7 all the way upto Madurai. Just before you reach Madurai you would have to take a right for the Madurai byepass, this would be marked as the turn for Airport, Rameswaram & Trichy. This stretch of byepass is 2 lane all the way till you cross Madurai & join NH 45B from where it is 4 lane all the way to Chennai. I did recently Tirunelveli - Chennai in about 11 hours without exceeding 85/90 with a total break time of about 2 hours.

One word of caution though you do not have anything to eat between Tirunelveli & Madurai on the NH the first option you would get is on the Madurai Byepass and then just after Madurai when you join NH45B. Again you would not have anything on the way from Madurai & Trichy.

hvkumar · 14th October 2010, 10:45

I just drove from Bangalore to Trivandrum yesterday.
The NH47 (TVM-Nagercoil) and NH7 (to Dindigul) and NH45B (from Madurai) is the route to take. Please do not go off the 4-laned highway.

P.S. typo corrected

12th August 2010, 09:47	#47
nairrk Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Kannur Posts: 2,447 Thanked: 688 Times View My Garage	Tambaram-nagercoil 8 hours is not sufficient. I think you can calculate roughly 10hours and if you reach earlier then good. Nagercoil to tvm- I have driven this road one month back and there were potholes in many places. It took me 3 hours (I left tvm at 9.15am and reached nagercoil around 12.15pm - traffic enroute as one has to cover many small town places in this route). However if you are driving after 19pm then may be able to reach in less than 2.30hours!
	() Thanks

12th August 2010, 09:53	#48
aargee Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: TSTN Posts: 6,357 Thanked: 10,075 Times	Chennai - Nagercoil will take about 10+ hours with a break of about an hour & you should be driving close to maniac speeds. Volvo does Chennai-Nagercoil in 11 hours with speeds over 120 Kmph.
	() Thanks

12th August 2010, 09:59	#49
nairrk Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Kannur Posts: 2,447 Thanked: 688 Times View My Garage	And they (volvo) normnally have 2 drivers to keep changing the driving hence they maintain the speed and running time, whereas @pradeep kumar is going to drive alone hence may need some stopovers inbetween??
	() Thanks

13th August 2010, 17:56	#50
vishnurp99 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: India Posts: 476 Thanked: 1,181 Times	Thanks for responses all. I will plan for 10 hrs since i am driving it for the first time. I will update the forum with the response once i reach tvm. My ride is a Figo tdci titanium. I don't think anything above 120 is safe on that and apparently there are lot of toll gates etc.
	() Thanks

26th August 2010, 11:19	#54
bijujj BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 76 Thanked: 28 Times	Planning to drive from TVM to Chennai. What are the good places to take rest and have food on the way. Do we get decent places by the side of the NH or do we need to get into the cities on the way?
	() Thanks

30th August 2010, 15:05	#57
bijujj BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 76 Thanked: 28 Times	Trip Completed. Start Time from Trivandrum (Nalanchira) 5:45 AM Nagercoil -- 7:30 AM Tirunelveli -- 8:30 AM Madurai -- 10:10 AM Trichy -- Arrived 12:15, started 12:45 Undurpet -- 2:25 PM Chengelpettu -- 4:15PM Saidapet -- 5:15 PM (Tambaram onwards it was peak traffic) Stops Breakfast was handled with bread/bun/coffee brought from home after Tirunelveli, near a petrol bunk. Lunch at Hotel Amutha in Trichy. Later found Hotel Arya on the way out to NH45. Could find one more hotel on the way near a reliance pertrol bunk. That might be the best best, as we need not enter Trichy at all. Stopped at Anandabhavan in Undurpet. That is also on the side of NH45 and a decent hotel (we reached at 2:30PM and is around 560 KMs away from TVM). In addition stopped at 2 more petrol bunks for refilling. Route. TVM- Nagercoil NH47 Nagercoil-NH7 via NH47B Go NH7 all the way near Madurai. Take bypass to NH45B (via veeralimalai). You need to watch out for the road to the right going to Rameswaram/Trichy Airport. NH45B till Trichy and NH45 till Chennai. There were slight diversions in a few places. Otherwise in general excellent roads. Overall Time including breaks is 11:30 hrs.
	(1) Thanks

14th October 2010, 10:27	#58
narayan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 3,133 Thanked: 2,488 Times View My Garage	Guys am planning to do the TVM-CHENNAI route either tomorow or day after. earlier was planning on a stop over somewhere in the mid point but going by the time taken I guess a stop over is not required. I see 2 options for the Tirunelveli Madurai stretch 1) as mentioned by bijujj above 2) cut away from NH7 at Kovilpatti onto NH45B and continue all the way to Trichy which of these is better ? thanks
	() Thanks

14th October 2010, 10:43	#59
pypkmsrikanth Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,157 Thanked: 362 Times View My Garage	Narayan the best option for you is to stick to NH7 all the way upto Madurai. Just before you reach Madurai you would have to take a right for the Madurai byepass, this would be marked as the turn for Airport, Rameswaram & Trichy. This stretch of byepass is 2 lane all the way till you cross Madurai & join NH 45B from where it is 4 lane all the way to Chennai. I did recently Tirunelveli - Chennai in about 11 hours without exceeding 85/90 with a total break time of about 2 hours. One word of caution though you do not have anything to eat between Tirunelveli & Madurai on the NH the first option you would get is on the Madurai Byepass and then just after Madurai when you join NH45B. Again you would not have anything on the way from Madurai & Trichy.
	() Thanks

14th October 2010, 10:45	#60
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,368 Thanked: 3,468 Times	I just drove from Bangalore to Trivandrum yesterday. The NH47 (TVM-Nagercoil) and NH7 (to Dindigul) and NH45B (from Madurai) is the route to take. Please do not go off the 4-laned highway. P.S. typo corrected Last edited by hvkumar : 14th October 2010 at 10:47.
	() Thanks