[Repsol]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Drove till Kalady last weekend, Kuthiran to Angamaly is in excellent shape except for the half complete 4 lane stretches near Pattikad.

You can expect some confusion and congestion in Paliakkera toll plaza once the Fastag is mandated in all except one lane

How is the situation at toll booths from BLR to Kochi? With all this chaos going around full fastag implementation, I am wondering what would be situation at tolls booths. Earlier, there was a dedicated fastag lane, so it was breeze. But with fastag being implemented in all lanes, I don't think there will be any dedicated fastag lane.

[gajadonga]

I traveled Avinashi to Banglore 3 days back.
No issues with fast tag I fact most of the lanes have been fast tag enabled. Most of the lorries and buses have already enabled still cars and vans block the traffic with cash in some counters

[Repsol]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

I traveled Avinashi to Banglore 3 days back.
No issues with fast tag I fact most of the lanes have been fast tag enabled. Most of the lorries and buses have already enabled still cars and vans block the traffic with cash in some counters

What I meant to say is, earlier there used to be a dedicated fastag lane which is manned by a person. So, if anybody without a fastag tried to enter, they will be stopped and forced to take the non-fastag lane. But now, with fastag being implemented in all the lanes, there won't be any dedicated fastag lane. Even though everyone is supposed to have a fastag now, but there will be a lot a vehicles who still might not have a fastag, or might have one but not valid, or insufficient balance, etc. This means even if you are having a valid fastag, you would still be held up in that lane for no fault of yours.

[Klub Class]

Originally Posted by Repsol

Even though everyone is supposed to have a fastag now, but there will be a lot a vehicles who still might not have a fastag...

True!

Listened on Manorama News yesterday that 40k vehicles pass through Paliyekkara Toll Booth and only 1/5th have Fastag . Also the sales of FASTag in Toll Booth has come down significantly once the deadline was extended to 15th Dec.

https://youtu.be/O2M66-Vl6QI

Guess we can expect longer queues and frequent fights once they limit cash only lane to just one or start charging double from non FASTag users

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by Klub Class

Listened on Manorama News yesterday that 40k vehicles pass through Paliyekkara Toll Booth and only 1/5th have Fastag . Also the sales of FASTag in Toll Booth has come down significantly once the deadline was extended to 15th Dec.

What would be the toll booth situation during this vacation season immediately after 15 Dec?

(1) right now (before Dec15), there are 1 or 2 FASTag-only lanes (all other lanes being cash only) in certain toll booths, and certain other toll booths have FASTag enabled even on the cash lanes.

(2) what the NHAI diktat for post-Dec15 suggests, is that only 1 or 2 lanes will accept cash and everything else will be FASTag only.

(3) Of course us being Indians, even if we are aware of a deadline through mass/social media, I'm sure majority of vehicles have not obtained their fFASTag ; and come Dec-end, it will be open season (= vacation time where city warriors will let themselves loose @140kph on highways and jump across toll lanes like monkeys across trees). However, many erstwhile cash vehicles would be freshly FASTag enabled too (like me, for example).

In light of (2) & (3) above, I fear there is a double jeopardy waiting :
A) the % of vehicles arriving at toll booth with FASTag will be higher than before => requires more FASTag lanes.
B) overall vehicle numbers will be much higher during Christmas/new year vacation time => much higher number of vehicles which are cash only => requires more cash lanes.
C) lots of arguments and hold-ups will occur with the toll operators, with people getting into wrong lanes (intentionally or otherwise) and cause more delays, adding fuel to fire.

Since number of toll lanes are fixed, how are the conflicting requirements A & B going to be met? Absolute mayhem awaits, I think.

[Repsol]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

What would be the toll booth situation during this vacation season immediately after 15 Dec?

Yeah, I was also in this thought. I have a trip coming exactly on 16th early morning. Getting prepared for total chaos .

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by Repsol

How is the situation at toll booths from BLR to Kochi? With all this chaos going around full fastag implementation, I am wondering what would be situation at tolls booths. Earlier, there was a dedicated fastag lane, so it was breeze. But with fastag being implemented in all lanes, I don't think there will be any dedicated fastag lane.

They were still maintaining a dedicated fastag lane when we travelled. Most of the other lanes were Fastag enabled, but allowing non Fastag vehicles as well. From Dec 15th all these lanes are expected to be dedicated Fastag lanes.

It was smooth when we travelled, I am sure it will take sometime for things to settle down after Dev 15th.

[Accent Martin]

I plan to travel from BLR to Trivandrum on 22. Any new good restaurants for breakfast after Salem Enroute to Namakkal?
also any new good restaurants for lunch around thirunalveli? No capsi drive inn please. thats disappointing.

[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by Accent Martin

I plan to travel from BLR to Trivandrum on 22. Any new good restaurants for breakfast after Salem Enroute to Namakkal?
also any new good restaurants for lunch around thirunalveli? No capsi drive inn please. thats disappointing.

A2B at Rasipuram is quite good. Comes on the left hand side while heading towards Namakkal.

Been to Capsi in April & Sep 2017, and Sep 2018. Was never disappointed.

My personal opinion - it's the best family option between Madurai and Kanyakumari.

I have had egg noodles and egg fried rice there, milkshakes, juice for 7-month infant, and other non-traditional fare.

Since I have always reached there between 13:30 & 15:00 hrs., and since I avoid lunches and dinners while driving, I have no experience on traditional south Indian meals in Capsi.

[B103]

Did anybody recently drive the Bangalore -> Dindigul -> Theni -> Cumbam -> Kumali -> Kanjirapalli -> Karikachal -> Thiruvalla route?

I am particularly keen to know about the condition of ghat section and section inside Kerala (in general). Kindly post if you have any latest information.

[Aditya_Bhp]

For fellow BHPians traveling through Paliyekara toll booth, there is a slightly longer route if you turn right at the signal before the toll plaza. It takes around 10minutes more but you can avoid the blocks at Paliyekara toll booth, which can often extend upto 30 to 40minutes and also save a few hundred rupees on toll.

For those entering Thrissur, turn left at Pudukad junction, via the railway station and enter Irinjalakuda Thrissur road, this actually takes lesser time most of the days.

Expect mayhem at Paliyekara toll plaza from tomorrow due to Fastag. The system here is slow and often fails. Hope they do something about it.

[Klub Class]

Originally Posted by Aditya_Bhp

For fellow BHPians traveling through Paliyekara toll booth, there is a slightly longer route if you turn right at the signal before the toll plaza

I've taken this detour. Except for few rough patches, it's good. Much peaceful than waiting in long queues, listening to continuous honking, watching the fights etc just to pay the toll

There's another quick detour to avoid toll (works best when the queues are not that long) :



Link to the route in Google Maps : https://maps.app.goo.gl/PoJdzZrzhMa27bSs6

[venkyhere]

update on FASTAG lane conversion :
news link
- for the next 30 days, beginning 15 Dec, depending upon traffic pile up , toll plazas may convert at most 25% of available lanes to cash-also lanes.
- that means, for 2 cash-accepting lanes, the tollbooth must have atleast 8 lanes in one direction, to begin with. How many toll booths are there, like that ? Most of them have 4/5/6 lanes, in which case, this 25% will amount to only 1 lane.
- I am wondering who is in charge of fixing numbers like 25%, 30% etc when they spew out these action-taken circulars. This new 'relaxation' will be of no benefit to majority of toll plazas (with <=7 lanes in one direction)

[smsrini]

Requesting advise on the best route for Bangalore to Kochi. Google shows via Coimbatore.

Is this doable in 11 hrs ? or is it a stretch ?

Is blr-coimbatore best via hosur-salem-Bhavani-avinashi. How is the road condition on this road ?

Coimbatore-kochi ? Google shows via Palakkad--Thrisur-Kochi. Is this the best option? road conditions ?

thank you.
Srinivas

[Aditya_Bhp]

Originally Posted by smsrini

Is this doable in 11 hrs ? or is it a stretch ?

Is blr-coimbatore best via hosur-salem-Bhavani-avinashi. How is the road condition on this road ?

Coimbatore-kochi ? Google shows via Palakkad--Thrisur-Kochi. Is this the best option? road conditions ?

Yes, Bangalore to Kochi, the best road is the same. Its almost entirely 4/6 laned except at Coimbatore bypass and Kuthiran stretch, these can be bottlenecks but nothing to worry. Kuthiran has been recently retarred and hence it can be passed in under 15 minutes if everything goes well. Tolls will be there every 80 to 90kms. In the evenings, expect heavy truck traffic on the roads, which will also create congestion at the toll gates. Hence avoid travelling in the evenings.

If you leave Bangalore early, it can be done in 7 to 9 hours with breaks in between. There are a number of A2B restaurants on the roadside for food and rest.