[s_scorpion]

Guys, I am planning to go to Ranchi from Kolkata in January next year. From what I could gather after going through the posts, the Bagodar - Hazaribagh - Ramgarh - Ranchi route seems to be the optimum one. Any idea on how the roads are holding up now? And the security scenario, hostilities ( if any )? I will be travelling through Jharkhand in daylight, which route do you think will be a good option?

Thanks,
Sandipan.

[goswami.j]

Originally Posted by s_scorpion

Guys, I am planning to go to Ranchi from Kolkata in January next year. From what I could gather after going through the posts, the Bagodar - Hazaribagh - Ramgarh - Ranchi route seems to be the optimum one. Any idea on how the roads are holding up now? And the security scenario, hostilities ( if any )? I will be travelling through Jharkhand in daylight, which route do you think will be a good option?

Thanks,
Sandipan.

Go ahead without any worries. I had travelled on this route as recent as last sunday. Road conditions are excellent & the Hazaribagh, Ramgarh route is extremely scenic passing through virgin forest. The route is mostly tolled & 4 lane work completed. Keep your speeds in control as twists, turns & climbs are aplenty. Travelling during day should be a delightful experience. If you plan to enter any of the towns (Hazaribagh, Ranchi etc. plan for some congestion). All the best for your trip.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by s_scorpion

Guys, I am planning to go to Ranchi from Kolkata in January next year. From what I could gather after going through the posts, the Bagodar - Hazaribagh - Ramgarh - Ranchi route seems to be the optimum one. Any idea on how the roads are holding up now? And the security scenario, hostilities ( if any )? I will be travelling through Jharkhand in daylight, which route do you think will be a good option?

Thanks,
Sandipan.

Hi,

Keep aside all your worries and take the Kolkata - Bardhaman - Asansol-Bagodar-Hazaribagh-Ramgarh-Ranchi route. No traffic/security issues at all. The road surface will be excellent throughout. Account for tolls though as you would be taking the NH-2 & NH-33 mostly which are tolled 4-lane roads.

Regards,
Saket.

[s_scorpion]

Mod note:Back to back post. Use Multi Quote [Quote +] instead. Thanks.

Originally Posted by goswami.j

Go ahead without any worries. I had travelled on this route as recent as last sunday. Road conditions are excellent & the Hazaribagh, Ramgarh route is extremely scenic passing through virgin forest. The route is mostly tolled & 4 lane work completed. Keep your speeds in control as twists, turns & climbs are aplenty. Travelling during day should be a delightful experience. If you plan to enter any of the towns (Hazaribagh, Ranchi etc. plan for some congestion). All the best for your trip.

Wonderful. Thank you @goswami.j. Your reply gives me confidence to take the trip without worrying about anything apart from running out of fuel . Looking forward to the twisites and the uphill and downhill climbs through the forest. Ahh, sounds too good to be true.

Originally Posted by saket77

Hi,

Keep aside all your worries and take the Kolkata - Bardhaman - Asansol-Bagodar-Hazaribagh-Ramgarh-Ranchi route. No traffic/security issues at all. The road surface will be excellent throughout. Account for tolls though as you would be taking the NH-2 & NH-33 mostly which are tolled 4-lane roads.

Regards,
Saket.

Thank you @Saket77. I have made up my mind to take this exact route. Do you happen to stay in Ranchi by the way. We can try to have a short meet once I am in Ranchi.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by s_scorpion

Thank you @Saket77. I have made up my mind to take this exact route. Do you happen to stay in Ranchi by the way. We can try to have a short meet once I am in Ranchi.

Hi! Last time I travelled to Ranchi from Kolkata was some 3 years ago by road. I took this route only, albeit decided to come via barhi (and not take turn towards Bagodar). This route was in total 570 kms which I covered in about 9 hours. Currently the road condition from Barhi to Hazaribagh is bad (40 kms) and hence, you stick to the route that I posted earlier.

Do drop a message when you come to Ranchi. Would be glad to meet you.

Regards,
Saket.

[gmhossain]

We did a Kolkata - Ranchi road-trip in Feb 2020. For onward journey we took Durgapur - Bagodar - Hazaribagh route. While for return journey, we followed Ranchi - Jamshedpur - Baharagora - Kharagpur route. Following are the route updates from our trip:

Route 1: Kolkata - Durgapur - Bagodar - Hazaribagh - Ranchi:

The Jharkhand stretch of NH-2 between Nirsa to Bagodar is undergoing 6-laning work. So currently it has a lot of diversions. Also, for a major part, the top layer has been scrapped off, leading to rough drive. The rest of the routes are in very good to excellent shape. The state highway between Bagodar and Hazaribagh is a 2-laned road but is very scenic.


Route 2: Ranchi - Jamshedpur - Mahuliya - Baharagora - Kharagpur - Kolkata:

A major part of the Ranchi - Jamshedpur highway is now 4-laned ans has butter smooth surface. The work was ongoing in the remaining stretch. However, even with diversions, the road was overall smooth. The stretch between Chandil and Mahuliya is in average shape due to the ongoing 4-laning work.

The stretch between Mahuliya - Baharagora is now fully 4-laned with concrete tarmac and operational toll booth at Kokpara. The Baharagora - Kharagpur stretch is now also fully 4-laned concrete tarmac except for the Kalaikunda Railway overbridge / underbridge stretch (around 5km) where work is in full swing. The toll both for this stretch was getting ready and it appeared that the remaining work could be completed in a few months.

Here is a picture of Mahuliya - Baharagora stretch.

[fordfreak]

I am planning to drive from Kolkata to Jamshedpur towards the end of September / early October. As our factory is located in the Adityapur Industrial Area, travel to Jamshedpur used to be a fairly regular affair for me. Normally, I would take the train because of the convenience, but that is no longer an option due to safety concerns.

Google Maps suggests : Kolkata - Kharagpur - Baharagora - Dhalbhumgarh - Ghatshila - Jamshedpur (via Mango). Door to door is about 301 KMs and estimated time is 6 hrs 30 mins.

I know the road till Kharagpur is good and have driven on it a number of times. But thereafter is all new to me, thus have no idea about the road conditions I could face.

Any inputs / suggestions / experiences / warnings will be highly appreciated.

Thank you!

(Mods - Please merge / move this thread if needed)

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

... I know the road till Kharagpur is good and have driven on it a number of times. But thereafter is all new to me, thus have no idea about the road conditions I could face.

We did this stretch in Feb 2020 in a hatchback. It took us 3 hour 45 min to cover the distance of around 235 km between Mango More to Kolaghat. You can find some route updates here (Kolkata to Ranchi - Security issues, route updates, etc.).

You can also find few more details in our travelogue page (Patratu Valley & Mccluskieganj : On a weekend drive to Jharkhand (from Kolkata))

Here is the video of the Chichira - Kharagpur section:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQzwW2HR8SI

Best,

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by gmhossain

We did this stretch in Feb 2020 in a hatchback. It took us 3 hour 45 min to cover the distance of around 235 km between Mango More to Kolaghat.

Best,

Thank you for your tips & feedback! My drive went very smoothly and the roads were 95% brilliant. Only the last 40 KMs before Mango Chowk (Jamshedpur) were still under construction, but hopefully that will all be complete within a year or less. Out of the 40 KMs, the last 5 KMs before Jamshedpur were really bad, but manageable in a sedan.

Total distance (Kolkata to Jamshedpur) door to door was 307 KMs and took a little over 5 hrs 15 mins, including a toilet break of 5 -7 mins. The return journey was done on a Sunday so barely encountered any traffic all through till Kolkata.

Used my 2018 Altis for the drive and covered exactly 524 KMs on a full tank. Had to refuel about 100 KMs before Kolkata to cover the remaining distance.

This was my first time driving to Jamshedpur. Needless to say, I will never be taking the train again given the journey by road is quicker (door to door) and more comfortable!

[Centodieci]

Hello folks,

Hope you are doing good.

I need some route advice as I am travelling from Ranchi to Kolkata this weekend. I have previously travelled till Bokaro via Gola. As per google maps, I can travel on same route till Dhanbad and then use GT Road till Kolkata. Other option is to use Ranchi-Jamshedpur- Baharagora-Kharagpur route. This route will be new to me and I have no idea of road condition from Ranchi to Jamshedpur.

Requesting for some insight on which route will be more suitable?

Thank you