Tribhuvan Highway

The Tribhuvan Highway or NH 02(Nepali: त्रिभुवन राजपथ) connects the outskirts of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, with Birganj/Raxaul on the Nepal-India border.^[1][2] NH 28 and NH 28A links Raxaul with Lucknow/Barauni and other locations in India.

Tribhuwan Highway
राष्ट्रिय राजमार्ग ०२
National Highway 02
Tribhuvan Highway in red
Route information
Part of AH42
Maintained by MoPIT (Department of Roads)
Length	189 km (117 mi)
Major junctions
From	Tripureshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal
To	Birgunj, Nepal
Location
Country	Nepal
Highway system
Roads in Nepal
← NH01 → NH03

Another view of the highway

History

Known informally as Byroad, the Tribhuvan Highway is the oldest and the first highway of Nepal and links Naubise, 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Kathmandu with the Indian border at Birgunj/Raxaul.^[2] It was named in memory of King Tribhuvan (1906–1955).

Its construction was completed with Indian assistance in 1956, and became the first serviceable road connection with India.^[2] The first regular daily bus service on the highway was operated by Nepal Transport Service in 1959. The bus route ended at the railway station at Amlekhganj, from where travellers took the Nepal Government Railway (NGR) the rest of the way to Birgunj and Raxaul.

Before Tribhuvan Highway was built, travelers used the historic trade route passing through Kulekhani, Chitlang, Chandragiri Pass and Thankot.^[3]

Route

The best stretch of the highway is through the Terai region. Thereafter, it is an unending series of climbs and descents through the Sivalik Hills north of Hetauda. Its total length extends to some 116 kilometres (72 mi) from north to south.^[4] It is 32 kilometres (20 mi) as the crow flies from Hetauda to Naubise, but Tribhuvan Highway makes it an astonishing 107 kilometres (66 mi).^[2] At Naubise, the Tribhuwan Highway intersects the Prithvi Highway.^[5]

Daman on Tribhuvan Highway has probably the finest view of the Himalayas extending on a good day from Dhaulagiri in the west to Everest in the east.^[2]

Pathlaiya is the junction point of the Mahendra Highway and the Tribhuvan Highway.^[2]

Kathmandu-Terai Expressway alternative

There are at least half a dozen routes to the Terai region via Makawanpur from the capital city, including Tribhuvan Highway, Kanti Highway, Ganesh Man Road, and Madan Bhandari Road. The four-lane fast track extending from the outer ring road in Kathmandu to Nijgadh in the Terai region will be the shortest and will only be 76 kilometres (47 mi). The track will have a tunnel of 1.3 km at Thingana of Makawanpur. It has been under construction since 2008.^[6]