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Old 15th October 2016, 23:30   #436
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re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Completed my Kolkata-Varanasi-Kolkata trip.

Some highlights on the Kolkata-Varanasi section are as follows:

1. Started at around 4:50 am and the Kolkata Panagarh stretch was almost deserted which allowed steady driving at 100-120 km/ hr.
2. The diversions started after Panagarh and continued well in to Jharkhand
3. Jharkhand roads were fabulous including the scenic beauty all around
4. The road became bad after crossing the Sone river and till Sasaram.
5. Instead of entering Varanasi through the Mughal Sarai connector, I took the Ramnagar connector (do not ask me why ) and got caught in terrible traffic snarls due to the Mela.

Did not dare drive inside the city at the time of Dussera/ Vijaya Dashami and Muharram. Activities in Varanasi included visit to Sarnath, Ganga Aarti, Subha-e-Benaras, Kashi Viswanath temple, etc.

For Varanasi-Kolkata:
1. Started at 6:20 am
2. The road is much better, but my average speed was slowed down by multiple breaks (non-synchronized toilet and hunger breaks)
3. Got lost while trying to take the Panagarh expressway as there were some road blocks in place in various points
4. Reached home at 7 pm

The full details of the trip, mileage calculations and some pics are attached (yet to figure out how to align the pictures with the text!!)
Attached Thumbnails
Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_6756.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_1162.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_1163.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_1164.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_6637.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_6707.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_6713.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_6744.jpg  

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-img_6747.jpg  

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Old 14th December 2016, 12:32   #437
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re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Driving During the Days of Demonetisation.

The year-end hopefully will see me undertake my third Delhi-Dumka (Jharkhand) drive. Route primarily will be NH2 till Dumri, and thereafter turn left for Giridih-Deoghar road.

Unlike our last two drives in 2012 and 2013 the facility to make cash-less payment at fuel bunks will make or mar the trip. Going by the state of things, I don't think it should present any problem, however, some encouraging words by the veterans would allay my fears.

Cheers.

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-ddd05.jpg

Entering Yamuna Expressway from NH2. Dense fog. 2013.
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Old 24th December 2016, 21:23   #438
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re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Hi Guys,
I need to travel from Patna to Gurgaon by road. Last time I took Patna- Varanasi- Kanpur- Agra route. Now with the opening of Lucknow-Agra expressway, is it a good idea to take that route or should I stick to my old one?
Thanks in advance.
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Old 25th December 2016, 11:11   #439
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re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Hey,

I am planning to travel from Patna to Delhi as well, when I come to India for vacation in March.

Please do give us details of your trip, it will be of tremendous help.

Thanks
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Old 26th December 2016, 12:29   #440
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re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnkitAnimesh View Post
Hi Guys,
Now with the opening of Lucknow-Agra expressway, is it a good idea to take that route or should I stick to my old one?
Thanks in advance.
Hi,

Please note that Lucknow-Agra expressway is not fully operational.
Also, for Patna-Gurgaon, it is advisable to stick to your old route even if the new expressway is made fully operational as it will not be on your direct route.

Yes, after Kanpur/Etawah , you may enter the new expressway (once fully operational) to save time consumed in crossing Firozabad stretch.
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Old 26th December 2016, 13:34   #441
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re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnkitAnimesh View Post
Hi Guys,
I need to travel from Patna to Gurgaon by road. Last time I took Patna- Varanasi- Kanpur- Agra route. Now with the opening of Lucknow-Agra expressway, is it a good idea to take that route or should I stick to my old one?
Thanks in advance.
The Lucknow-Agra expressway doesn't look to be fully operational. I did Muzaffarpur to Gurgaon stretch in August 2011 and will share the thread here for your help. The Yamuna ExpressWay was not operational that time. We took a left towards Sohna from Palwal as suggested by Google and did save at least 2 hours. I will be taking this route again next year. Hopefully things would have improved by then.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2463214



Another thread you can check is http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-bareilly.html

Good to see another one from Bihar, staying in Bihar. So effective visible strength is 3, self (Muzaffarpur), Sheel (Purnea) and you.

Last edited by BoneCollector : 26th December 2016 at 13:41.
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Old 1st January 2017, 02:44   #442
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re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Hey,

Here is one more from Bihar.

I'll try to get in touch with you guys once I'm in Patna.
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Old 21st January 2017, 13:44   #443
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
And the 34th one-way journey, from Delhi to Kolkata, will begin tonight.
The 35th trip will be completed by the end of this month.
The 36th and 37th one-way trips happened in April 2016...
Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
I was stopped by Kanpur Police on the flyover last month, who wanted to see my papers.
...and the 38th and 39th trips happened on 7-8 January 2017 and 15-16 January 2017.

Road status update:

Delhi - Agra: YEW is as usual, except there were warnings on the overhead display boards about not stopping one's car if one hears the sound of something breaking. There was a news article in the papers earlier: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/56321704.cms.

Agra - Etawah: Again, as usual - which is to say, still narrow and bumpy.

Etawah - Kanpur: Brilliant, fast and smooth 8-lane road with multiple flyovers lit up with LED street lights. An absolute pleasure to drive on. Note the timestamp in the photograph below!
Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail-flyover-lights.jpg

Kanpur - Mirzapur turnoff: Fairly decent 4-lane roads, but the tendency of trucks to park on the road occupying half the width, especially on the Allahabad bypass, can be irritating.

Benaras - 30 km before the Ganga bridge, almost till the UP-BR border: Painful road with no less than 18 diversions where flyovers are under construction. Each diversion is preceded by and concludes with a humongous speed-breaker, where low-slung cars would scrape the underbelly. I managed to make the Scorpio's suspension bottom out and hit the bump stop on a couple of these. On the way back, found some of the bumps on the westbound carriageway had been partially removed/broken away - even then, there were a couple that caught me unawares. We crossed this section early on Sunday morning on the way out, and in the early afternoon on another Sunday on the way back. I dread to think how bad the traffic would be on this stretch, on a weekday during office hours. A friend reported spending 3 hours to cross this stretch just a fortnight ago, in a hatchback.

Bihar: Rolled up tar at some places, badly done patchwork repair of the tarmac - not too bad, but definitely poorer than the Kanpur-Allahabad section.

JH - Dobhi to Gobindpur: The condition of the culverts and bridges is terrible - bad joints, potholes all over the surface, often necessitating crawling in 1st gear. The westbound carriageway is in better condition.

Gobindpur - Durgapur: Diversion-land again. It must be declared a crime that the government allows the operators to collect toll on this stretch.

Panagarh bypass to Nivedita Setu (Bally): Good roads, crazy drivers, terrifying Volvos. And an hour-long jam between the Dankuni toll gate and the Nivedita Setu toll gate.

We made it door-to-door in 24 hours. The return journey was done in 23 hours, starting from the WBTDC Tourist Lodge at Shantiniketan.
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Old 23rd January 2017, 17:41   #444
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Thanks for the update SS. This is helpful. Am heading out of Delhi on 26th Jan morning. Will stay over at Varanasi on Thursday night and Friday and then head to Kolkata on 28th (Saturday). Haven't fixed return date. May be 3-4 days later with a detour somewhere else.

Which was the most time consuming and slowest section?
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Old 23rd January 2017, 22:04   #445
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Quote:
Originally Posted by souravdebiswas View Post
Which was the most time consuming and slowest section?
The bottlenecks are:
1. Firozabad - Shikohabad, if you are crossing in the daytime / peak hours / early evening. Heavy local traffic.
2. 30 km before Varanasi, the UP-BR border, roadwork in progress, frequent diversions, big speed breakers. Heavy local traffic in the daytime/evening especially on a working day.
3. BR-JH border till JH-WB border, and then onwards in WB till almost Panagarh. In certain sections the road surface is broken, elsewhere there are flyovers under construction with diversions over bad surfaces.
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Old 24th January 2017, 12:04   #446
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Quote:
Originally Posted by souravdebiswas View Post
Which was the most time consuming and slowest section?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
The bottlenecks are:
1. Firozabad - Shikohabad, if you are crossing in the daytime / peak hours / early evening. Heavy local traffic.
2. 30 km before Varanasi, the UP-BR border, roadwork in progress, frequent diversions, big speed breakers. Heavy local traffic in the daytime/evening especially on a working day.
3. BR-JH border till JH-WB border, and then onwards in WB till almost Panagarh. In certain sections the road surface is broken, elsewhere there are flyovers under construction with diversions over bad surfaces.
And while returning maintain a look out for a cut to get on the reverse carriageway at Bihar and UP borders. If missed it can turn into a torture, especially the latter.

For your onward journey, with half the road closed and the other half under construction, getting out of Varanasi has turned into a torture.

Last edited by Piyadassi : 24th January 2017 at 12:24.
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Old 20th February 2017, 21:16   #447
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Guys the above reads like a nightmare story. I shall be doing the Jamshedpur Varanasi Chandigarh around 19 March. What would be the best point to join NH19 coming from Jamshedpur? And after Varanasi would it be better to Take the Lucknow Barrelliy Roorkee axis or any better alternative? Thanks.
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Old 20th February 2017, 21:42   #448
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
Agra - Etawah: Again, as usual - which is to say, still narrow and bumpy.
I was just looking through if anything new is being suggested on the Kolkata - Delhi route by google maps. Found out that from Etawah its taking a right turn towards Karhal and joining the Agra -Lucknow expressway from Karhal towards Agra on to the YEA and then driving straight to Delhi avoiding the Sirsaganj-Shikohabad-Firozabad route. Not sure if this route is at all feasible and also the condition of the Etawah-Baidpura-Saifai-Karhal. Any idea!

Last edited by A.G.The Rambler : 20th February 2017 at 21:49.
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Old 28th February 2017, 19:22   #449
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

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Originally Posted by A.G.The Rambler View Post
Found out that from Etawah its taking a right turn towards Karhal and joining the Agra -Lucknow expressway from Karhal towards Agra on to the YEA and then driving straight to Delhi avoiding the Sirsaganj-Shikohabad-Firozabad route.
As of now, this road is not operational. The Agra-Lucknow Expressway is not open through its entire length yet, nor is the connection from ALEW to YEW a driveable road.

Not likely to become operational soon either, till UP gets a new government.

Last edited by SS-Traveller : 28th February 2017 at 19:30.
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Old 23rd March 2017, 13:06   #450
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Re: Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 (now called NH19) in full detail

[quote=Kn1ght1941;4115738]Hey,

I am planning to travel from Patna to Delhi as well, when I come to India for vacation in March.


Hey,
Sorry for late reply, got really caught up with work. I did travel from Patna to Gurgaon and here are the details.
1.Started at 1 am from Patna and reached Sasaram G T road in 3.5hrs.
2.From Sasaram till Varanasi is a nightmare with atleast 15 diversions.
3.Road becomes good after crossing Varanasi and excellent once you reach Allahabad bypass and same continues till Etawah.
4.From Etawah till Agra is still slow, narrow road and traffic.
5. Nothing to write anything about Yamuna Expressway.
Total time to reach my home Gurgaon was 17hrs including 1 food/ bio break and 1 diesel stop but it was all worth it.
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