[Uprasenjit]

Would you guys suggest to take the Bardhaman-Moregram route at night ? I will be travelling alone with my wife and this route is relatively unknown to me than NH34.

I do not wish to take the Dumka-Bhagalpur route at night, so the other option left is NH34 ? Which one will be safer during night ?

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by Uprasenjit

Would you guys suggest to take the Bardhaman-Moregram route at night ? I will be travelling alone with my wife and this route is relatively unknown to me than NH34.

I do not wish to take the Dumka-Bhagalpur route at night, so the other option left is NH34 ? Which one will be safer during night ?

Night or day, SH7 is out of bounds.. NH34 is good. Road wise. Safety part can be clarified by experienced individuals.

Cheers!

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by Uprasenjit

Would you guys suggest to take the Bardhaman-Moregram route at night ? I will be travelling alone with my wife and this route is relatively unknown to me than NH34.

I do not wish to take the Dumka-Bhagalpur route at night, so the other option left is NH34 ? Which one will be safer during night ?

Hey Prasenjit !!

The Bardhaman-Moregram Route is indeed a good option comparatively to taking NH-34 all throughout in case you want to avoid the Bhagalpur route. However, either ways you will have to cross Farakka & Malda which is recently keeping pretty much clogged for hours and I have heard people taking 18-20 Hours to complete the stretch.

On the contrary, I preferred taking NH-34 all throughout since we were 3 couples with 6 kids (under the age of 6 years) in 3 cars and that the NH-34 route is more inhabited at night in comparison to the Bardhaman-Moregram Route. Moreover, since I do business in these areas, any help is just a phone call away which suits me better on the personal front.

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by 1100D

I did take the Bhagalpur-Amarpur-Banka-Dhaka more-Hansdiha-Dumka route (on my way back from Siliguri), which would be of interest to people as it is much shorter than the Katoria route.

However, the feedback is, its horrible!!!

You were lucky you got into that road from Dhaka More. Last time we went we went straight via Basauni-Punsia-Hansdiha to see how the roads were. Had shared experience here.

The craters gulp cars for breakfast. Never taking that route in the near future.

Regards,

Pawan

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by 1100D

However, the feedback is, its horrible!!!

Dhaka-more till Dumka has massive craters, now on both Bihar and Jharkhand. To provide an example of the size of the craters, a semi-trailer turned turtle near hansdiha while trying to negotiate a pothole at crawling pace..

Had you called me up, you would have saved yourself this torture.

May I get in detail? The issue is, tender does come up to build that road but there happens to be just one applicant, a single applicant results in tender being void, this has happened 3 times. Lets hope someone with good credential gets allocation and we get good road to drive on

Originally Posted by dr. sen

Is it a typo error, 9 pm; shouldnt it be 9 am to 6/7 pm.

Regrets in advance, incase of being wrong.

Regards

You are absolutely correct, thanks for pointing out Asking the helpful Moderator Team for an edit.

Originally Posted by 1100D

Mostly the trouble breaks out at night post 8pm. Mornings are relatively easy.

+1

EDIT:

I am glad that finally the culvert is being repaired in the hawai-adda bypass road for Bhagalpur. It is a death trap for cars, especially low slung cars could be completely under water if the culvert was flooded. I hope the culvert is referred as the railway underpass.

Death trap means death trap. Car would be completely engulfed in water on the main road, what the hell could you or any do?

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Had you called me up, you would have saved yourself this torture.

I wanted to take this very route itself from the start, wasn't even intending to take NH34 even if there was no issue there. Just a few of those things that one does when one feels like doing it!!

However if you note the two posts below

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Bhagalpur (11:10am) to Khatoria (01:00pm) - 80 Kms covered in 1 Hour 50 Mins Via Amarpur-Banka including around 40 minutes taken to cross the town of Bhagalpur
Took a Tea break of 20 Minutes in Khatoria
Katoria (01:20pm) to Dumka (03:10pm) - around 100 Kms covered in 1 Hour 50 Mins Via Deoghar

Originally Posted by 1100D

Dhaka-more till Dumka has massive craters, now on both Bihar and Jharkhand. To provide an example of the size of the craters, a semi-trailer turned turtle near hansdiha while trying to negotiate a pothole at crawling pace.

It took us 3 hours 40 minutes from Vaibhav inn till the clock tower at Dumka.

Exactly the same time!!

AJ with a super handling hatch on a road thats suitable for it (Also AJ is a modest super driver). Myself on an SUV that does not fear craters on a shorter but worse road.

Originally Posted by shourya_lahiri

Night or day, SH7 is out of bounds..

Cheers!

Why should that be? Himadri Mandal had clearly said this

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3947053

and my own feedback of the same on my up trip a week back confirmed that his post was completely true.

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Why should that be? Himadri Mandal had clearly said this

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3947053

and my own feedback of the same on my up trip a week back confirmed that his post was completely true.

Yes dada, this is exactly what made me decide on taking SH 7 , including yours. But if u can please wind up a bit on this thread itself.. i'll post the link, you can see my impression on the highway... whatever it was, it is definitely not the same at present.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/121480-kolkata-siliguri-route-via-dumka-bhagalpur-avoiding-nh34-48.html

Also if you get time, you may refer this thread also, especially what BHPian mi2n had replied..

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/176645-solo-1800-km-drive-kolkata-dooars-jalpaiguri.html

Regards

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Exactly the same time!!

AJ with a super handling hatch on a road thats suitable for it (Also AJ is a modest super driver). Myself on an SUV that does not fear craters on a shorter but worse road.

Thanks for the compliment 1100D !! But, only if I was a 'man on a mission' to prove a point while I was behind the steering wheel which was not the case as I was travelling with a 3 month old infant and mentoring 2 Innova(s) behind me all throughout the trip which does eat up a lot of time since I always had to keep a check on my ORVM. Had it been an independent drive it would have taken much lesser time.

All said and done considering the road condition of all the alternatives in hand, I feel Kolkata-Siliguri is very much doable in less than 10 Hours with a little less than sedate driving.

I would be interested to know what app people usually use to tabulate the said Data of Driving Time/ Moving Time. Will definitely come in handy for the next trip to Darjeeling using both the alternate routes and share the Data accordingly with the Forum to benefit all.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by shourya_lahiri

Yes dada, this is exactly what made me decide on taking SH 7 , including yours. But if u can please wind up a bit on this thread itself.. i'll post the link, you can see my impression on the highway... whatever it was, it is definitely not the same at present.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...g-nh34-48.html

Also if you get time, you may refer this thread also, especially what BHPian mi2n had replied..

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...alpaiguri.html

Regards

I took this route on May 20th 2016 on my way to Siliguri and I still say that the route details/conditions given by Himadri is absolutely accurate.

From Burdwan to Panchgram its pretty smooth. After that, there is a detour recommended through Nabagram (its there in that thread itself).

https://goo.gl/maps/1LpxKW1F3cw

I had still, not taken that detour, but carried on straight, and found just that roughly 10kms stretch to be bad.

Secondly even if you read carefully what mi2n has shared, he too suggested that the route is otherwise quite good apart from the last portion and advised a detour.

The SH7 option solves a lot of problems for many.

Originally Posted by mi2n

What you seem to have missed out from our Kolkata-Siliguri thread is the fact that SH-7 from Kuli to Moregram is under construction and is not recommended in a hatchback/sedan at this time. Though myself, in a Figo(old gen) and others(including a team lead by an ubiquitous Etios) have covered the stretch without much discomfort in March. The strecth between Kuli to Moregram was rough but very doable even in small cars. However, a detour from Kuli via Kandi (SH11) onto NH34 just after Baharampur would have saved you the needless jerks.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Thanks for the compliment 1100D !! But, only if I was a 'man on a mission' to prove a point while I was behind the steering wheel which was not the case as I was travelling with a 3 month old infant and mentoring 2 Innova(s) behind me all throughout the trip which does eat up a lot of time since I always had to keep a check on my ORVM. Had it been an independent drive it would have taken much lesser time.

All said and done considering the road condition of all the alternatives in hand, I feel Kolkata-Siliguri is very much doable in less than 10 Hours with a little less than sedate driving.

OK

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by 1100D

I took this route on May 20th 2016 on my way to Siliguri and I still say that the route details/conditions given by Himadri is absolutely accurate.

From Burdwan to Panchgram its pretty smooth. After that, there is a detour recommended through Nabagram (its there in that thread itself).

https://goo.gl/maps/1LpxKW1F3cw

I had still, not taken that detour, but carried on straight, and found just that roughly 10kms stretch to be bad.

If covering during day, this route is good as well. Good surface. A little narrow but save time & kms. We took this detour in April.

https://goo.gl/maps/qucGYc72KfK2



Regards,

Pawan

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

I would be interested to know what app people usually use to tabulate the said Data of Driving Time/ Moving Time.

I use a Garmin eTrex30 to log the data. It logs distance travelled, stoppage time, moving time, avg speed, route, altitude and loads of other info in a GPX file.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

I use a Garmin eTrex30 to log the data. It logs distance travelled, stoppage time, moving time, avg speed, route, altitude and loads of other info in a GPX file.

Thanks a lot BlackPearl for sharing the details. I believe the device itself costs over 15K INR which for me is indeed a little steep. Is there any Android based Application which works on a Smartphone and can log a similar kind of data ?

[shourya_lahiri]

Originally Posted by 1100D

I took this route on May 20th 2016 on my way to Siliguri and I still say that the route details/conditions given by Himadri is absolutely accurate.

From Burdwan to Panchgram its pretty smooth. After that, there is a detour recommended through Nabagram (its there in that thread itself).

https://goo.gl/maps/1LpxKW1F3cw

I had still, not taken that detour, but carried on straight, and found just that roughly 10kms stretch to be bad.

And I crossed it just 7 days after.. Thanks for sharing this detour. Had I been more observant , I should have learned about this detour earlier. Will surely try this one , if SH7 is not repaired before that, BUT my next route will for surely be the Bhagalpur one.

I hope I have not misled anyone..from what it seems even apart from not taking the detour, there must have been some reason for me to face that trauma.. But I really did have a bad time.

Regards

[1100D]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

I would be interested to know what app people usually use to tabulate the said Data of Driving Time/ Moving Time. Will definitely come in handy for the next trip to Darjeeling using both the alternate routes and share the Data accordingly with the Forum to benefit all.

Counter question to that? Whatever app there could be, would it also not be dependent on the type of driving, whether a person is going hammer and tongs or taking it easy savouring the scenery, taking it a little soft on the vehicle.

Moreover, would the app be able to distinguish between a forced stop or a deliberate rest. I guess all our driving times includes forced stops at things like level crossings, usual traffic hold ups (say if one is held up at Kaliachak, this would not show up as a driving time, giving a false impression of the real situation)

Probably on a track day, such maps would be completely appropriate, but in real world?

Apart from some bragging rights of one driver against another on the same day, same road, I dont think it makes much sense, because each day conditions are different.

Or are we interested in taking this to a direction which might be of only academic interest to the larger group.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Moreover, would the app be able to distinguish between a forced stop or a deliberate rest. I guess all our driving times includes forced stops at things like level crossings, usual traffic hold ups (say if one is held up at Kaliachak, this would not show up as a driving time, giving a false impression of the real situation)

and that's exactly my point !! The logged data would be misleading as it would fetch results without considering the real time situations of "forced stops" as you mentioned.