Do you need train information?

lucyl

Hi Mr Ber
I was wondering if you could give me some suggestions for how to get to Ratnagiri from matheran, presumably changing at neral juntion then get down to Panvel. We are two adults travelling with two children aged 7 amd 10 so we might have to go for a lockable carriage as i'm a bit worried about the kids wandering at night. I dont really want to go back to Mumbai to catch the train. Ideally I would like to have a daytime train as its not such a long journey and it will be our first train journey, apart from getting to Matheran when we arrive.My husband would rather travel at night so we can get a bit of sleep. Does that make sense? Thanks for your help.
Lucy

steven_ber

When are you travelling?

(there is a special monsoon timetable on the Konkan Railway till November and all train times change.)

__________________
.
How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


RAC & Waitlists explained.

lucyl

Aah, thought I'd left something out. we are leaving Matheran on the 18th December and hoping to get down to Ratnagiri that day. Dont want too early a start though. Thanks for your quick reply.

steven_ber

BOOK TRAINS 2 months in advance.

I understand that taxi's are not allowed to enter Matheran, try to find out if you can go to the edge of town and get a taxi direct to Panvel, this would be the easiest solution, especially as there are 4 persons.

You will be able to get a taxi to Karjat.

Train 1026 departs Karjat daily at 07:00 and gets to Panvel at 07:45. (CC, II.), (this is a train that hasn't come into service yet, but should be running by December).

I have a horrible feeling that this will be a busy train and you will have to book in advance, I can see this train being a useful train for Mumbai commuters living in Pune, Lonavla and Karjat, especially as the Mumbai suburban trains start from Panvel.


From Panvel.

Daily trains that start in Mumbai are: -

Train 2051, Panvel 06:38, Ratnagiri 10:33 (CC, 2S)(not Wednesdays)
Train 0103, Panvel 08:30, Ratnagiri 13:30 (1A, 2A, 3A, SL.)
Train 6345, Panvel 12:55, Ratnagiri 18:50 (2A, 3A, SL.)
Train 2619, Panvel 15:15, Ratnagiri 20:30 (2A, 3A, SL.)

The following train starts it's journey in Delhi so may be late arriving at Panvel.

Train 2618, Panvel 09:35, Ratnagiri 14:40 (2A, 3A, SL.)


Trains 2051 and 0103 probably offer the best chance of availability.

lucyl

Thank you so much. I'm liking the look of 6345 as that way we get to see all the beautiful sights and still get to the beach when its light. you are a prince amongst men.

steven_ber

6345 goes all the way to Trivandrum in the south of kerala, so the number of berths available for the short Panvel-Ratnagiri section may be limited, I tried checking earlier but the Indian Railway website is not working at the moment. (still try, you never know)

0103 only goes to Goa, and the night train on the Mumbai-Goa route is more popular, so it has a better chance of availability.

Prashant.M

Steven, two great posts. What a wealth of information.

__________________
Happiness is just a thought away

Madeleine smith

We are hoping to travel from goa to bombay at the end of october in the day time just wanted to know the best way to book it and what class to book my son is 14. thanks Madeleine

If we are going from goa to bombay at end of our holiday is it ok to book tickets at start of holiday or will they be booked up.

steven_ber

The following is the berths available for the Panvel-Ratnagiri section.

Train 2051, CC-31, 2S-712
Train 0103, 1A-6, 2A-37, 3A-130, SL-255, 2S-323
Train 6345, 2A-10, 3A-34, SL-183
Train 2619, 2A-8, 3A-44, SL-132

Train 2618, 2A-2, 3A-4, SL-40

steven_ber

Hello Madeleine and welcome to indiamike.com

I could give you the standard info available to anyone, it will be helpful, just, but I could also give you really useful info that will fit your requirements perfectly, but you will need to give more info.

There are 14 year olds, and then there are 14 year olds, will his eyes be concentrating on a hand held computer game for most of the journey? will he be running up your mobile phone bill with 3 hours on the phone to his girlfriend? or will he be interested in the scenery? Are graffiti opportunities high on your son's list of requirements? (I'm not taking the P., only joking, you can tell I've always lived in the inner cities. )

Will he/you be happy to mix with locals even if they don't speak much English? or prefer to be in a carriage with people who speak good English?

Will he/you prefer the comforts of air-con to the realism of non-air con?

Will he/you prefer the smell, sights and atmosphere of non-air con (with open windows) to the sterile comfort of an air con carriage with slightly darkened windows?

There are 3 daytime trains, most calling at 3 or 4 stations in Goa, these trains run at different times.

Where are you staying in Goa?

Why are you going to Mumbai? to catch a flight? what time is the flight?

Do you mind getting to Mumbai late? 23:00?

Where will you be staying in Mumbai?

Late October......

The monsoon timetable operates in October, this adds hours to every train taking the daytime journey to 10.5 hours or 14 hours depending on the train.

The normal timetable resumes on the 1st November, would a train on the 1st November be an option? (8-12 hours)

vsp27759

Dear Steven,

You gave the availability, I understand.

Lucyl wanted to perform the journey in December,2007.

As you are already, the bookings for December last week journeys to Kerala/Goa would get completed in the last week of October itself.

A note of caution deserves to be issued from IM to all our Members, whoever is desirous of performing journeys within India in general and Kerala/Goa in particular, in the last week of December,2007.

steven_ber

I was trying to show how many seats/berths are available for the Panvel-Ratnagiri sector, to give an idea of the best train to try to book.

I agree, I've warned members for the last 2 years that the Mumbai-Goa-Kerala route gets booked up well in advance from November till January.

bbrouard

Hello Steven and others,
I feel I am lazy for asking this but I really am confused after trying to understand the timetables and so I have turned to the wise. My desired itin is below I would appreciate tips and train times if possible!
Wed 15 Nov - Arrive Delhi
Fri 17 Nov - Train Delhi to Agra
Sat 18 Nov - Train Agra to Jaipur
Sun 19 Nov - Train Jaipur to Pushkar
Mon 20 Nov - Train Pushkar to Udaipur
Wed 22 Nov - Somehow get to Bangalore - Suspect I'll have to fly
Fri 24 Nov - Begin Southern Leg of trip (already planned)

Thanks, Ben.

Mickey S

Ben,

Just go to indianrail.gov.in, and click on "Trains between Imp Stations" to get the times you need. Choose the starting station and the destination station, the date and choose "All classes" for the best choice of trains.

From Delhi to Agra, choose "New Delhi - NDLS" and "Agra Cantt - AGC". There are a lot of trains on this route.

From Agra to Jaipur choose "Agra Fort AF" and "Jaipur - JP". There are four trains to choose from, at 06:15, 18:20, 18:50 and 19:35, taking 4-5 hours.

For Pushkar you need to get train to Ajmer then bus or taxi, so look for "Jaipur - JP" to "Ajmer - AII" (10 trains to choose from).

Ajmer to Udaipur ("UDZ") there's only one train - 2992 (AII UDZ EXPRESS), which departs Ajmer at 06:15 and arrives Udaipur at 11:40. You're going to have to leave Pushkar very early indeed to get this train.

And then book them all at IRCTC as soon as you can because this is only a few weeks away.

I can see a problem with this itinerary. Presumably you'll want to visit the Taj Mahal on Saturday 18 November (it's closed Fridays), and so you'll take one of the evening trains to Jaipur. You'll be getting there very late. You then move on the next day without having a chance to see anything in Jaipur and arrive in Pushkar sometime in mid afternoon or evening. And you need to be up at 4 the next morning to get back to Ajmer to get the 06:15 train to Udaipur. You're not going to see very much except the inside of trains, taxis and hotel rooms, are you?

steven_ber

Most train details are available in the 'Train Information' thread.

Just some ideas.....(as you want to fly to Bangalore)

You can fly direct to Bangalore from Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad (5 hours by bus from Udaipur).

If flying to Bangalore from Delhi (should be cheapest flight option)

Depart Delhi (to Agra) on the Thursday, there's a very fast train at about 06:00 that gets you to Agra for about 08:10, see Taj Mahal (& other things), the go to Fathepur Sikri (35 kms), then get overnight train from Bharatpur (25kms from Fathepur Sikri), it departs at about 21:25 and gets to Udaipur for about 07:00.

Then get the overnight well-timed train from Udaipur to Jaipur.

Then get a train, bus or taxi to Ajmer/Pushkar.

Then get a train from Ajmer (20:28) to Delhi (05:30) and get a flight to Bangalore.


If you fly from Jaipur to Bangalore, do as above, but get the daytime train from Udaipur to Ajmer, go to Pushkar, then go to Jaipur.

The following websites are good for searching for flights.

http://www.ixigo.com/

http://www.cleartrip.com/