Jodhpur - Mumbai & Mumbai - Mysore?

AlanJ

I admit that when it comes to travel between major centres in India, I like the train every time... thanks largely to Steven Ber's informative posts and the very useful timetable website. However, the only train from Jodhpur to Mumbai which I can take leaves later than I need and arrives in Mumbai in the middle of the day, which is a waste of the cool half of the day!

I see that there is a fast train from Ahmedabad at 2250, which arrives in Mumbai at 0830, and this would be far preferable.... if there were a swift way of getting from Jodhpur to Ahmedabad in the late afternoon/evening.

Does anyone know about the buses that ply this route.... their availability, the times of departure and arrival, where to look up timetables, etc?

Thanks for all help!

machadinha

Hi, and welcome to IndiaMike.

I can only tell you there will be many, and it should be easy to find out on the ground in Jodhpur, also to match your further schedule from A'bad. Just make enquiries as soon as you can there.

For online schedules, you could try this thread Online bus ticket reservation sites , but bear in mind there are many bus companies both public and private in India, and many of them will not be online, and what is not listed on that thread doesn't necessarily not exist.

Ahmedabad is very much the hub for that entire wider region, and certainly from north to south in those parts, so again, shouldn't really be a problem.

btw Oh I see now, you want to swiftly get to A'bad in the evening. It's not close by, 9-11 hrs. by direct train. Of which there are many btw, why not try one of those. See http://www.indiagroove.com/ (also for train combinations); check results with the official site at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/ just to be sure. See what you come up with at IndiaGroove to Mumbai while you're at it.

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AlanJ

Thanks for that info.... while I have already pored over the official indiarail site, I confess I had never before seen the IndiaGroove site, which seems to overcome some of the inherent problems with the official site, especially that damn day-specific thing which meant that I wasted hours searching for trains that didn't show up because they didn't run on the day of the week that I was searching!

I will spend some time looking at Indiagroove's multi-train combinations to see if it reveals anything. Howeever, I still fear that a good fast bus, maybe leaving mid-afternoon, might be the best bet. Hope someone knows something specific about this!

Thanks again!

claurianta

The bus isn't going to be any faster than the train, so you'd have to leave by noon at the latest. I say just go with the train even if it gets you in at midday. Or even better go overnight to Ahmedabad, check out gandhi's ashram and other sights, and then continue on your way to Mumbai.

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steven_ber

What day of the week do you want to depart Jodhpur?

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Train information.

steven_ber

I won't get time to do this reply later, so I'll take the chance.

The following is only useful if you're departing Jodhpur on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday.

Do you want to depart Jodhpur early in the morning, visit Ranakpur and/or Kumbalgarh, then get a well timed train to get you to Mumbai early the next day?

Train 6507 (starts from) departs Jodhpur (Thursday and Saturday only) at 05.30 and gets to Falna station at 08.28.

Train 9224 departs Jodhpur daily at 06.35 and gets to Falna at 09.45, this train starts from Jammu and may be late.

Falna is about 35kms from Ranakpur, a little more to Kumbalgarh, you'd really need to hire a cab from Falna for the day to make this a pleasant day.

Then on to Mumbai.....

Train 2994 departs Falna (Mon, Thu & Sat only) at 19:22 and gets to Bandra (Mumbai) at 08:05

Train 2994 is one of the brand new Garib Rath trains, 3-tier air con costs about 40% less on a Garib Rath than on a normal train, these trains have new 'high capacity' carriages that squeeze more people in, though I hear they're comfortable, but choose an upper berth (UB) as the side berths on these trains have a side middle berth making them a little crowded.

Falna to Mumbai costs Rs515 in 3-tier air con on the Garib Rath, it costs Rs826 on train 2479.

Falna is about 150kms from Jodhpur, it may be worth considering hiring a car and driver from Jodhpur, they could take you to Ranakpur/Kumbalgarh, then drop you at Falna station for your train, if you do this, remember that the driver will have a very long day as he'll have to get back to Jodhpur, so tip him well.

------------------------------

If you just want to take the Garib Rath, train 4707 departs Jodhpur daily at 15.00 and gets to Falna at 18.00

AlanJ

Hi, Steven, and once again, it seems, I am in your debt for all your help with trains and planning. When I planned our first trip to India (2004), I didn't have a clue how to start, but every time I asked on this forum, you came to my rescue with invaluable info, and I will say to all the world that our five week trip (mainly by train) was the best holiday I ever had in my life, and a lot of the credit must go to you.

This time, I had very little trouble getting a much-shorter (two weeks) itinerary by train together, as many of the things you taught me I remembered straight away. This time the peculiar railway website held no terrors (even though I still managed to run foul of its possibly new day-of-the-week-sensitive searches... I "missed" a lot of good trains because I thought I was looking at them all)!

The only thing I've run into a brick wall over is this Jodhpur-Mumbai leg.

Now, I would have like to have left Jodhpur around mid-afternoon (on a Saturday, so that certainly fits with your suggestion), because by that time I am starting to become exhausted anyway, and the bus is preferable to dragging myself around in the heat. However, your suggestion (above) seems to require leaving Jodhpur very early in the morning (I will look at it again more closely in a few minutes), and that would be a pity, as we only arrive the previous early-evening (from Jaisalmer, also by bus).

However, the places that you mentioned sound interesting, and, certainly, we never saw them last time, so perhaps your suggestion will eventually take root! Possibly I can find a bus to Falna which would connect with the train you listed (which is not one I had looked at).... 150 kms on the bus shouldn't take more than about four hours (says he, hopefully!), so that wouldn't steal away our Jodhpur morning.

Claurianta, thanks for your input, and I fear that you are right about the bus being no faster than the train. However, I have seen some routes where the bus was more direct and didn't have too many stops, so I was rather hoping to learn about one of those!

Thanks you both again, and I will now go off and research Falna, and that new train of Steven's!

AlanJ

Just to wind up this thread now...... I have done my homework, examined the schedules, checked Steven's post again (and discovered that last paragraph!) and made up my mind. We'll be leaving Jodhpur on the train at 1500 and arriving in Mumbai at 0805, which is exactly what I was hoping the bus would do for me. Steven, you just bought me an extra 4 hours in Mumbai! I will drink a lassi to your health in a bar I know there, quite near to the Benazeer Hotel.

steven_ber

I'm a little concerned about train 4707 getting to Falna on time (I would have mentioned it earlier, but wanted to see if you'd choose this option first).

The train starts from Bikaner, and though that isn't too far away, an hour & 20 minutes isn't a lot to play with, I suggest you keep an eye on how the train is running for a week or so before booking it.

Go to the following website, enter the train number, then on the next page select Falna Station, then select today's train.

http://www.trainenquiry.com/indexNS.aspx

I've checked for Sunday's train and it arrived at Falna 58 minutes late.

steven_ber

Just found a way to check for previous trains.

The following is the 2nd half of the url on the final page that shows any delays.

4707&st=FA++&dt=09%2f02%2f2008

I've highlighted the '09', when I did the search for today, the 09 was a 10, so a quick change seems to get into the website's old info. (I'm sure I learnt how to do that from an indiamike member)

09th = delay of 1 hour 13 minutes.
8th = 33
7th = 53
6th = 1 hour 28 minutes
5th = No more info available

So out of 5 days (including today), only once was the train too late for your connecting train, though the connecting train may also have been delayed, the Garib Rath's details haven't been added to the website yet, it only started running this week.

AlanJ

Hi, Steven!

Yes, I worried a little about delays also... I recall that in 2004 one of our trains (Agra-Jodhpur) was over two hours late, coming only from (I think) Varanasi. So from Bikaner to Falna.... hmmm.

However, your report is fairly encouraging, and I think it's worth a try. By the way, thanks both for all the trouble you went to to prepare the report, and also for teaching me how to do this for myself. There's always something new to learn about the Indian Railways sites!

And, of course, let us always remember that these connections are hardly a matter of life or death.... the worst that can happen is that we have to skip a city here and there. But, on this trip, starting from Bangalore, we hope to visit (by rail) Chennai, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Varanasi, Agra (for two hours), Delhi, Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Mumbai, and Mysore. With riches such as these, we'd be rather ungrateful to complain if we had to skip (or reduce) a couple because the trains didn't always come on time!

However, I will do as you say, and "clock" the late arrivals around early August.

Right at this time, I have been trying to plan a trip from Mumbai to Mysore without having to go through Bangalore (where we finish). The best I can find is Train 1017 from Dadar to Arsikere Junction, arriving 1725, change, then train 261SW leaving 1810 and arriving 2205 in Mysore (once again, another tight connection, but we can always spend the night at Arsikere and go onto Mysore by the 0530 train the next morning).

Changing at Arsikere was the best way I could find of making the trip as efficient as possible; is there somewhere else I should be thinking of? I had a look at Dharmavaram, but there's nothing from there to Mysore on Monday/Tuesday, when we're making this journey. Purna didn't yield any results either.

Thanks again for all your help!

steven_ber

Mumbai - Mysore

Departing on a Monday......here's an option.

Train 2201 departs Lokmanya Tilak (Mumbai) at 16.55 and gets to Udupi at 06.08 and kankanadi (see below) at 07:55

(another Garib Rath, so 3-tier air con, upper berth, not side berth)

I hear Udipi has a lot to offer tourists, do a search and see if the place appeals.

Udupi is 58kms north of Mangalore and connected by the main road in the area, (NH17), if you get a bus, go to Mangalore, if you get a cab, go to kankanadi station (6 kms from the centre of Mangalore and on the Mumbai-Kerala mainline)

Train 6518 departs Mangalore daily at 19:45, then Kankanadi at 20:00, and gets to Mysore at 03:50 (doesn't depart till 04:05), the train then goes on to bangalore. (2A, 3A, SL.)

An awful arrival time in Mysore, but overall a fairly efficient use of overnight trains.

Mangalore station has been re-named Mangalore central, and Kankanadi station has been re-named Mangalore Junction, but at the moment, Indian Railways are still using the old names.

Sadanand Kamath

If you are departing on Tuesday, here is an option to travel Mumbai - Mysore without having to go through Banglaore.

Train No.1035 leaves Dadar (DR) at 21.30 hours and reaches Mysore at 21.15 the next day.

Sadanand

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AlanJ

Hi, Sadanand Kamath!

Thanks for that train info... actually I had turned up that one, but we need to leave Mumbai on a Monday, so I had to regrettably admit defeat.... pity, because if it left 24 hours earlier, it would have been perfect.

Steven, once again you have come up with a train I didn't find on the official website; these Garib Rath trains are completely new to me. Are they, perhaps, new to India as well and not yet entered into the "trains between stations" tables?

It's an interesting way to use our time, and have a look at a place I hadn't previously thought about... although, as you point out, that's a terrible time to arrive in Mysore! However, what you have outlined is three hours less of actual travelling, and nearly a day of sightseeing when otherwise we'd just be sitting on a train. I'm tempted. You can bet that I'll be doing some research today on Udipi and Mangalore! Once again, I am in your debt (don't forget my offer on one of these threads -- there are now so many I forget which! -- to return the favour should you ever decide to visit Sydney.

Are all these Garib Rath trains listed in tables on some website that I wouldn't know about? Maybe I am missing lots of opportunities here, as I have been using only the "regular" websites.

AlanJ

Steven, I have spent the last hour or thereabouts checking up, and, of course, you are exactly right... that is the way to go, via Udupi. It seems a pity to whizz through Goa in the middle of the night, but unless there's a really fast train leaving Mumbai around midday which would allow us to change at Magdaon, I guess we'll just have to wear that. It's still a good use of our time, and it gives us an extra place to look around, and a change to a couple of hours on the bus instead of on the train.

What I really like about these changes you are making for us is that every time we modify the itinerary in accord with your suggestions, we end up with an improved sightseeing/travelling ratio. My first-draft itinerary a week and a half ago had more time on the trains than it did walking around.... no longer, I'm happy to say. Now it's approaching a 2:1 ratio in favour of the walking. Thanks again!