[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by rohanak1

But the train definitely is much more safer considering the fog and the way people drive on the YEH.

If there is FOG, rail traffic will also be affected. Have a look at the Departure/Arrival timings of Gatimaan Express for last few days. I am a regular on YEW and would advise against taking the YEW before the Sunrise.

[rauldsouza]

I just did Delhi to Bangalore in my 2013 Vento (Diesel) over 3 days with my dad as we had to get our car back into Bangalore. As its a long drive, I'll be breaking it down in 3 posts, so i can link it to relevant shorter drive route queries.

Route Options :
Route 1- 2158 KM
Delhi -> Agra -> Gwalior -> Jhansi ->Sagar-> Narsinghpur -> Chhindwara -> Nagpur -> Nizamabad -> Hyderabad -> Bangalore

Route 2- 2284 KM
Delhi -> Jaipur -> Bilwara -> Chittorgarh -> Ratlam -> Dhule -> Shirdi -> Satara -> Kolhapur -> Bangalore



I was researching which route to take as Google recommended Route 1, which i was hesitant off due to road quality between Nagpur to Hyderabad and worried a little bit of safety when crossing through Chambal, however as i had already done Mumbai to Bangalore few times before i titled more towards Route 1.

I planned night stays at Narsinghpur and Hyderabad, didn't go ahead with any of the bookings as these stays were still tentative and would decide them "on the road" based on comfort and timing. Looking back it was the right thing to do as we didn't end up staying at Narsinghpur. More on that below.

Here's a detailed summary of all the Toll Expenses's which i found to be high it nearly comes down to 1Rs per KM.

[rauldsouza]

Trip Analytics

# Songs Listened to – 365



Fuel Expense



I would recommend reducing the duration, day on day when driving back to back, as it gets tiresome and less enjoyable - the law of diminishing utility.

[rauldsouza]

Day 1 - New Delhi to Chhindwada

Started at sharp 5:05 am on a Monday Morning from Vasant Kunj and were lucky as the visibility was very good for Mid December and made it easily to Yamuna Expressway Toll by 6:15. The highway drive was a breeze and we cruised thru. it in no time.

On Hitting outskirts of Agra, Google suggested taking the Rambagh Exit on YEH, we got bad road quality and mild traffic at 8'ish and i would suggest taking the YEH till the very end. Some of roads suggested by Google maps were thru. an Army Cantonment where entry is restricted.

The Chambal valley was misty in early morning and would hardly last 20 minutes, I would play down any safety concerns while crossing this during the day. There's no ghat section on this stretch and its pretty much a plateau road.

We reached Gwalior bypass by 9:40 and the stretch is average with mild traffic and were able to maintain decent speeds on this stretch.




Gwalior to Jhansi (104 KM)
Gwalior bypass to Jhansi was the worst stretch with our speed coming down 35 kmph while passing thru. small villages with heavy traffic and extremely bad roads. This stretch literally took out the fun of the drive. It took us 2 hrs 40 min to cover 105 km.

Jhansi to Sagar (202 KM)
The road quality improved leaps and bounds in MP and we covered 200 Km stretch in under 3 hours, the roads are fully 4 laned with hardly any traffic.
Entire stretch till Nagpur is pothole free and a pleasure to drive on with hardly any vehicles.

Sagar to Narsinghpur (140 KM)
The good roads continued and it was nice to see scenic country side and we did this stretch comfortably in 2 hours. Since we reached earlier (17:15) than scheduled we drove another 125 KM to Chhindwada

Narsinghpur to Chhindwada (125 KM)
We experienced uphill ghats on the way to Chhindwada, with good quality roads and illuminated markers we comfortably navigated this stretch in the dark in little over 2 hours.
Stayed at Hotel Dev international which was very comfortable.




Staying in smaller towns is highly recommended as ingress and egress is a breeze, I learnt it the hard way while stopping at Hyderabad the next day.

Car Stats






Drive Stats

[rauldsouza]

Day 2 : Chhindwada to Hyderabad

Chhindwada to Nagpur 125 KM
Started from Chhindwada at 8:24 AM, fuel in MP was expensive at Rs 67, filled ~ 15L to take us through the border. Getting out of the city was easy and sweet and didn't feel city like, which further reinforced the idea of staying in smaller cities and also the benefit of a cheaper accommodation.

The morning drive was absolutely heavenly when passing thru. Pench forest, the air was magical and fresh and we stopped a few times to soak in the feeling. This part of the drive was definitely a high in the entire Delhi - Bangalore Drive. There was absolutely no hassles in crossing the border, which is mentioned in some posts.

The Magic ended at 10:15 when we reached Nagpur and took a short detour to meet my in-laws.






Nagpur to Hingnaghat (76 KM)
Being well fed, left Nagpur at 11:55 and got a first hand experience of the bad roads, to make it worse we waited 30 mins at the train crossing. Drove mostly on 3rd or 4th gear and covered this hell zone in 1 hr 40 min. Refer to Drive Stats below.

Hingnaghat to Adilabad (121 KM)
The bad roads continue till you enter Telengana State, once you cross Telengana the road improves into 4 lane and so does the scenery. Made it to Adilabad in 2 hours.

Adilabad to Hyderabad (305 KM)
We cruised on this stretch which was a treat to drive on, owning to good roads, scenic view and no traffic. Restaurants are far and few on this stretch, pls plan carefully when travelling with family for food stops and clean toilets.
We made it to "The Park" on Raj Bhavan Road in 4 hours, entering Hyd is a pain due to heavy Traffic. i would not recommend staying at Hyd city due to ingress and egress problems and would encourage staying on a highway hotel or an adjacent city.

However Biryani at Sarvi made up for the Hyd. traffic.

Drive Stats



Car Stats

[rauldsouza]

Hyderabad to Bangalore 590 KM

This stretch has good roads end to end and we cruised through the final leg of the journey, this route is covered in great detail so i would just add a few minor observations.

The highway is a bit congested towards Hyd side and gets better only after 100 KM or so.

As soon as you start approaching Bangalore airport, last 100 odd KM beware of unmarked speed breakers. Pls assume a speed breaker at every village crossing.

The scenery improves and becomes a whole lot greener as yr approaching into Bangalore.

Pls take into account Bangalore traffic when entering the city, I would suggest to start early 7 or before to arrive into Bangalore before 4:30.

I started from "the Park" Raj Bhawan Road at 9:15 and reached A2B Devanahalli at 4:00 PM

Drive Stats



Car Stats

[rohanak1]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Convenient.

You can also check for availability on Taj Express or go via one and return via the other.

Ended up taking the taxi to Agra and back. What a wonderful trip it was. The Taj Mahal is just amazingly beautiful. There was fog on the YEW but it did not really spoil plans. Just slowed us down a bit while going to Agra. The YEW is an amazing highway. Loved the travel. The toll was 665 round-trip.

[ambujlal]

Which app is this? Looks like lot of analytics!

Originally Posted by rauldsouza

Drive Stats

Attachment 1589637

[rauldsouza]

Originally Posted by ambujlal

Which app is this? Looks like lot of analytics!

Thats Geo Tracker

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...otracker&hl=en

[arun_josie]

Agra - Nagpur update: Route taken, Agra - Gwalior - Jhansi - Sagar - Narsinghpur - Seoni - Nagpur

Agra - Gwalior: This is a decent 4L stretch but will slow you down while crossing towns.

Gwalior - Jhansi: 4L construction has been abandoned and no proper sign boards for diversions. Roads are not in great condition, crossing villages takes time as well. This is the slowest sector between Agra to Nagpur.

Jhansi - Sagar - Narsinghpur: Its a nice and clean 4L stretch

Narsinghpur - Nagpur: From Narsinghpur, we did the mistake of taking the Seoni route instead of Chhindwara route, the roads till the 4L stretch are good. Once we enter the forest area it is 2L and the road conditions turns to average/bad with potholes. Later there is a 25-30Kms stretch which is bad due to 4L construction. So, It would be better to avoid this route and take the 2L route via Chhindwara.

For lunch, we stopped at Pathway Retreat near Sagar, this was good with clean toilets.

Fuel Stop, 100 Kms from Jhansi, there is a BP COCO on the left side.

Spotted lot of cows sitting on the divider, so we may need to be alert. Twice they made us to stop :-)

Overall, it took us 12 hours and 30 minutes to reach Nagpur. (8:30 AM, Agra Exit to 9:00 PM, Entered Nagpur)

[Unavowed_X9]

People. Doing the Koraput - Raipur - Nagpur - Chhindwara - Gwalior - Agra - Delhi - Abohar route. Thanks for the updates so far especially the Nagpur - Chhindwara - Gwalior - Agra stretch. Once done, will update my own experience here. Do let me know if any inputs at your end regarding anything I should consider. Trip coming up in next few days.
Thanks in advance.

[Karvel]

Originally Posted by rauldsouza

Thats Geo Tracker

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...otracker&hl=en

Wonderful update, @rauldsouza. I am also planning to do Gurgaon - Bangalore some time later in the year. Checked for the app in Google store. Could not find it. Is it still working for you?

Update of the current status of the route, particularly Gwalior to Nagpur, anyone? Have these roads been completed or repaired now?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Karvel

Update of the current status of the route, particularly Gwalior to Nagpur, anyone? Have these roads been completed or repaired now?

Here is an update on another thread, but till Nagpur.

Originally Posted by Thumping Soul

Update for folks taking this route!

The treacherous stretch around Hinganghat, is a thing of the past. The roadwork is on full swing. The crater like potholes on this stretch have been filled up, didn't counter even one.

Immediately after crossing the bridge over Penganga river, you move into Maharashtra and the road condition deteriorates. The bridge work is on full-swing and the old diversion still exists. After this, there are some 4-5 diversions where the bridge work is mostly done and both the carriage ways would be fully complete i believe in a year's time.

The flyover around Hinganghat is also making some progress. The best surprise was that those crater sized potholes are now thing of the past.

Overall, this stretch is much more pleasurable to drive on.

One more!

Originally Posted by rauldsouza

As you pointed out the stretch has vastly improved but still bad when compared to the road conditions in AP/TS.

However, few BHPians did take this route end of December last year on bikes and cars and reported nothing great about Jhansi Gwalior that remains consistently bad. Rest of the sections anyway remain good and fast.

The Narsingpur Chindwara had developed few patchy sections as per one travelogue to Ladakh last year by arjithin.

[arun_josie]

Seoni route update:

Last week one of my friend took this route and here is his update,

Road/flyover construction work is still going on in Pench area, its matter of 4-5 kms of diversion sector. Otherwise butter smooth road and it helped to bypass Nagpur city traffic.

The bad stretch is from Hinghanghat till Telangana border where the road is not in great condition, but manageable.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Seoni route update:

Last week one of my friend took this route and here is ...

Thanks Arun. Now this what will help me next week as I head beyond Nagpur .
Knowing how the Adilabad MH Border is, my mind is set but any latest update is a good update I would say.