Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway to pass through Deoria, Kishanganj and more; know travel time, latest update

The construction of the Gorakhpur-Siliguri Expressway is expected to start soon as the land acquisition work, which started in May 2022, is ongoing expeditiously. Starting from UP, this 520 km expressway will go to West Bengal via nine districts of Bihar. 

The four-lane expressway is being constructed by NHAI (National Highways Authority of India). It passes through three districts of UP and enters Bihar, where it will pass through 9 districts of the state before entering West Bengal. 

This is a greenfield expressway under Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) Phase 2 and will run parallel to the Nepal border. Gorakhpur Siliguri Expressway covers 84.3 km in Uttar Pradesh, 416.2 km in Bihar, and 18.97 km in West Bengal totalling 519.58 km.

It will cover 84 km of distance in UP through Gorakhpur, Deoria and Kushinagar districts. While in Bihar, it will pass through nine districts -- West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Supaul, Forbesganj and Kishanganj. After this, it goes through Darjeeling and then finally Siliguri.

Land acquisition work is going on in all three states for the expressway, Times Now Navbharat reported. After 80 per cent of the acquisition work is completed, a tender will be issued. Reports suggest Rs 32,000 crore is expected to be spent on the construction of this expressway. The project is expected to complete by 2025.

Presently, there is no direct road connecting Gorakhpur and Siliguri. Due to this, it takes people around 15 hours to reach Siliguri or vice versa. However, the Gorakhpur Siliguri Expressway will drastically reduce the time to about 6 hours.

READ | Beating Retreat held amid light rain as Republic Day celebrations come to end, see pictures