[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by sayakc

So, where did you go? Can we expect a travelogue ?

Also, when do you plan to travel in December? Me planning sometime in mid-December, but mine this time will be a run with my elderly parents so will halt somewhere in between.

December second week is my window and might come across you if dates match and yes, some sort of write up is in the pipeline, should be up soon.

Originally Posted by gmhossain

I guess, your wish is heard! For a significant part of Kaliachak - Sujapur stretch, the traffic has been diverted to use the newly constructed lane. The old tarmac is now being scrapped out.

I probably did get some stretch of Sujapur new flank recently. It might be that now the entire flank of the newly constructed side is in use. Morgram to Raigunj is now more or less good with occasional bad surface, specially in the areas where the four lanes merge into a single lane. The over bridge that was long in the making near the Golden Park Hotel Malda beside the Army camp is also operational now, saving the blushes of big potholes and speed bumps.

Thanks to your persistent dialogue with the NHAI officials. I hope December does give us some good surfaces and may we end this horrible year on a good note.

[Debnjai]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

But I was thirsty and few KMs ahead of Dalkhola I stopped in a dhaba for a cup of tea. Fortunately there was a North Bengal State Transport bus standing there. I met the driver and he insisted that there should not be much traffic mess in Dalkhola. Passed Dalkhola in thirty minutes. Surprisingly there was possibly a 10-15 KM long line of trucks in our opposite direction. Rest of the road thereafter varied from bad to excellent and it took me well over seventeen hours to reach home.

Hello Rahul ji,

So if I understand correctly, you are recommending Islampur-Dalkhola route over the Bengal-to-Bengal Dhantola-Botolbari route?

I did Botolbari-Dhantola last week in the evening, it was not very encouraging. Would the return journey by Dalkhola be a better option. I am traveling with wife and son in an Ignis.

Regards
Jai

[Debnjai]

Originally Posted by rahul4640

But I was thirsty and few KMs ahead of Dalkhola I stopped in a dhaba for a cup of tea. Fortunately there was a North Bengal State Transport bus standing there. I met the driver and he insisted that there should not be much traffic mess in Dalkhola. Passed Dalkhola in thirty minutes. Surprisingly there was possibly a 10-15 KM long line of trucks in our opposite direction. Rest of the road thereafter varied from bad to excellent and it took me well over seventeen hours to reach home.

Hello Rahul ji,

So if I understand correctly, you are recommending Islampur-Dalkhola route over the Bengal-to-Bengal Dhantola-Botolbari route?

I did Botolbari-Dhantola last week in the evening, it was not very encouraging. Would the return journey by Dalkhola be a better option. I am traveling with wife and son in an Ignis.

Regards
Jai

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by Debnjai

Hello Rahul ji,

So if I understand correctly, you are recommending Islampur-Dalkhola route over the Bengal-to-Bengal Dhantola-Botolbari route?

I did Botolbari-Dhantola last week in the evening, it was not very encouraging. Would the return journey by Dalkhola be a better option. I am traveling with wife and son in an Ignis.

Regards
Jai

Going through Dalkhola is always a gamble. I request you to get the exact news of that day from the drivers of cars coming from opposite direction.

After June I have done Siliguri - Kolkata - Siliguri six times among which only once I took the Dhantola - Botolbari road, rest all being through Dalkhola. Among these eleven times [(2x5)+1] only once I got stuck at Dalkhola for approximately one and half hours. Rest all was more or less thirty minutes waiting. Also the jam is in general much lesser in the Siliguri - Kolkata direction than the Kolkata - Siliguri direction. Also it is lesser in the 1 pm to 4 pm time range. But remember all this are statistical information. So it can be false on your date of journey.

[brownianmotion]

Hi,
I drove to Siliguri a year back through NH12 which was a bad experience due to the surface condition, traffic. Gmhossain mentioned that airport to barojaguli was 4 laned - but it did not seem so that time - will be happy to get corrected if that is not the case .Next in this year Jan, I took SH 7 which was in good condition . But when we again took SH7 on 1st October it was extremely bad. I am again planning to go to Siliguri end December on night drive . Am a bit sceptic which road to take . Recently saw a you tube video where it has been told that SH7 is not safe for family in night . I drove once through SH7 in Oct but did not realize anything.
Can you please suggest whether I should take NH 12 or SH7 for a night drive in December end considering I will be starting at 8 PM from South Kolkata. Thanks in advance

[Redeemer8]

Originally Posted by brownianmotion

Can you please suggest whether I should take NH 12 or SH7 for a night drive in December end considering I will be starting at 8 PM from South Kolkata. Thanks in advance

I have a similar query on the route to taken from Morgram to Bagdogra. Do I consider to travel via Dalkhola or take the Bengal to Bengal road only considering this is the most horrible stretch in the entire route from Kolkata to Siliguri? Any ongoing road work/repairs which is likely to be completed in the next 2-3 weeks? Thank you.

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by brownianmotion

Hi,
I drove to Siliguri a year back through NH12 which was a bad experience due to the surface condition, traffic.....Recently saw a you tube video where it has been told that SH7 is not safe for family in night . I drove once through SH7 in Oct but did not realize anything.
Can you please suggest whether I should take NH 12 or SH7 for a night drive in December end considering I will be starting at 8 PM from South Kolkata. Thanks in advance

I have travelled through SH7 numerous times in night but could not sense any safety issues. But one thing I am warning you is that section is very much prone to dense fog in winter time. So you have to be very cautious about fog.

[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by brownianmotion

Gmhossain mentioned that airport to barojaguli was 4 laned - but it did not seem so that time - will be happy to get corrected if that is not the case .Next in this year Jan, I took SH 7 which was in good condition . But when we again took SH7 on 1st October it was extremely bad.

I guess, there must have been some misunderstanding. Currently, only the Airport - Barasat (Dak bungalow) stretch is 4-laned. In any case, some significant amount of repairs have been carried out all along the route in last one month. So the whole route is relatively better now than a month and half ago.

Originally Posted by Redeemer8

Do I consider to travel via Dalkhola or take the Bengal to Bengal road only considering this is the most horrible stretch in the entire route from Kolkata to Siliguri? Any ongoing road work/repairs which is likely to be completed in the next 2-3 weeks? Thank you.

May be I should emphasize this point: one takes Bengal-to-Bengal road not because it has better surface (no, it doesn't) but because it has minimal uncertainties. One can cover Botolbari - Dhantola stretch in less than 2 hours via B2B road at present but no one can give guarantee for a similar duration via Dalkhola. I hope it helps you to take a decision.

Best,

[basuk]

Thanks for the detailed info on Raiganj to Islampur stretch. Per Google maps there are three routes and B2B seems to be the shortest and the quickest!
I am planning to take the B2B road (going to Dooars, starting on 25th Dec from Kol) and taking a night halt at Raiganj. So, If I start around 6:30 or 7:00 am in the morning, hope to get much less congestion en route B2B!

Kindly suggest!

Regards
#KBasu

[indrasis_gun]

Anyone has any recent update on road condition. I will be travelling again on 5th December.

[basuk]

The update that I got from few who did a round trip to Farakka:
- Kolkata - Burdwan and then straight up via SH 7 seems to save an hour or so, compared to via Shantiniketan
- Road surface is okay with patches of bad portions
- Traffic snarls at few positions, but it would depend on the time of the day and weekday vs weekends.

[nisfish]

I left home at Ballygunge in Kolkata at 1 AM and arrived in Siliguri at 5.30 PM today. I traveled with my wife in a Grand i10 NIOS (Manual). I decided to try out NH 12 this time. Road surface is fairly good all the way to Farakka. The two lane highway till Krishnanagar was a bit tedious considering the high volume traffic, fog and those high beams. It was smooth sailing after that all the way to Moregram. We got stuck for almost an hour at Farakka and it could have been more had we not followed the advice of a passerby on a bicycle who advised us to turn back while we could and follow some cars who had taken the wrong side. Farakka to Raiganj is horrible. Now I know what somebody earlier was referring to as moon sized craters. They appear suddenly and are well disguised. Also watch out for unmarked speed breakers.The first 40-45 kms of Bengal to Bengal road made me question whether I was really saving time by not taking the Dalkhola route. The rest is fine. Islampur to Siliguri was slightly better than the last time I traveled. We took 4 breaks totalling may be 1 hour, max. So its been almost 24 hours since I last slept and I'm still up typing this. I guess I am having caffeine jitters thanks to 3 Red Bull cans and some coffee along the way.

[profcalculux]

I will be travelling next week - Baranagar - Siliguri - Guwahati.
Please suggest Baranagar Siliguri route.
When should I start from Baranagar to reach Siliguri around 6 PM

Originally Posted by rahul4640

Gentlemen,
I went to Darjeeling from Calcutta, returning back yesterday. I tried both the routes for comparison. On my outward journey my route was via Asansol. Dumka, Bhagalpur, Purnia and Araria. Honestly speaking, substantial part of this route was broken. Immedia

Thanks for your story -
I plan for
Kolkata-Dankuni-NH19-Bardhaman-SH7-Moregram-Farakka-Malda-Raiganj-Dalkhola-Kishenganj-Islampur-Siliguri

Is this a good idea?
I have to proceed to Guwahati from Siliguri the next day.

What is the good time to start to reach by 6 pm to Siliguri.

Solo Driver.

Originally Posted by nisfish

I left home at Ballygunge in Kolkata at 1 AM and arrived in Siliguri at 5.30 PM today. I traveled with my wife in a Grand i10 NIOS (Manual). I decided to try out NH 12 this time. Road surface is fairly good all the way to Farakka. The two lane highway till Krishnanagar was a bit tedious considering the high volume traffic, fog and those high beams. It was smooth sailing after that all the way to Moregram. We got stuck for almost an hour at Farakka

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[nisfish]

Originally Posted by profcalculux

Thanks for your story -
I plan for
Kolkata-Dankuni-NH19-Bardhaman-SH7-Moregram-Farakka-Malda-Raiganj-Dalkhola-Kishenganj-Islampur-Siliguri

Is this a good idea?
I have to proceed to Guwahati from Siliguri the next day.

What is the good time to start to reach by 6 pm to Siliguri.

In the route that you have in mind, you'll enjoy the drive upto Burdwan. I don't know the present condition of SH-7. From what I read in earlier posts on this thread, I think its not in good shape at the moment. If you take the NH12 route, the journey upto Krishnagar might be a bit bothersome but surface is good all through to Moregram.

Farakka to Raiganj is where you should be on full alert. It took me close to 16 hours to reach Siliguri. So plan accordingly.

[indrasis_gun]

Originally Posted by nisfish

I...The first 40-45 kms of Bengal to Bengal road made me question whether I was really saving time by not taking the Dalkhola route. The rest is fine....

How bad was the Bengal to Bengal road? Did you face any issue with ground clearance of your car?