Cochin - Trivandrum (200kms) in 2 hours. How the heck is it possible ?

dtox · 24th November 2015, 18:44

Yes, it shudders me to think what the state of this road will be in the coming few years with increased density of cars on road !
This stretch of road is notorious not just for the width ( or rather lack of it) but for the bad lighting ( are there streetlights anywhere?) as well as the daredevilry of the KSRTC / Volvo drivers. A new menace that I have observed lately on Kerala roads is the increased adventure spirit of the Tata Ace and Ashok Leyland Dost drivers. Scary situation indeed !

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satan's Valet

Me and my family drive down to Kochi every weekend to visit my sister. My dad is a pretty sedate driver and he drives at ~70 kmph. It usually takes us around 5 hours and BTW, it takes an express train about 2.5 hours to reach Kochi. I find it unbelievable to think that a person reached in around 2 hours. He must've been flying or atleast been goin on at ~180 to reach Kochi in 2 hours.

Hi Satan's Valet ( nice name there

),
Somebody had posted that some 8 years back ! Better roads, less number of cars , less traffic, no speed cameras,less population and generally lesser number of things to distract people. I had a professor who once did the stretch in 2.5 hours in an urgency to watch some cricket match at Kochi. Doing this at this day and age would be modern-day harakiri !!
Rgds

dtox · 10th October 2016, 14:08

Ahem, bringing back to life this very old post to see if it sparks off any new-found interest amongst the relevant junta !

gkrishk · 10th October 2016, 15:03

Well, times have changed..
In 1997-99 I used to do TVM (Vanchiyoor) to EKM (Sarovaram) in 3hours (5 am to 8) in my Zen. The dual carriageway from Chertala to Aroor I once did in less than 15 minutes. Those days there was hardly any traffic: few buses, almost no pedestrians early in the morning, good distant visibility so you see any obstacles from far, and almost empty junctions with no traffic lights.
Mid to late 2000s: Speed cameras, congested junctions, lots of people by the roadside mean you have to be very cautious and generally keep a max speed of 80 and an average of 50 km/hr.
Now: I recently had to take an early morning flight from Nedumbassery. Started at midnight from TVM, reached the airport at 5 am! There was so much lorry traffic even in the small hours. Vehicle density in Kerala has reached bursting point.

10th October 2016, 14:08	#62
dtox BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Kochi Posts: 64 Thanked: 40 Times	Ahem, bringing back to life this very old post to see if it sparks off any new-found interest amongst the relevant junta !
	() Thanks

10th October 2016, 15:03	#63
gkrishk BHPian Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 146 Thanked: 56 Times	Re: Cochin - Trivandrum (200kms) in 2 hours. How the heck is it possible ? Well, times have changed.. In 1997-99 I used to do TVM (Vanchiyoor) to EKM (Sarovaram) in 3hours (5 am to 8) in my Zen. The dual carriageway from Chertala to Aroor I once did in less than 15 minutes. Those days there was hardly any traffic: few buses, almost no pedestrians early in the morning, good distant visibility so you see any obstacles from far, and almost empty junctions with no traffic lights. Mid to late 2000s: Speed cameras, congested junctions, lots of people by the roadside mean you have to be very cautious and generally keep a max speed of 80 and an average of 50 km/hr. Now: I recently had to take an early morning flight from Nedumbassery. Started at midnight from TVM, reached the airport at 5 am! There was so much lorry traffic even in the small hours. Vehicle density in Kerala has reached bursting point.
	(1) Thanks