Do you need train information?

... So anyway if you look, and as you probably have, at http://erail.in?T=SBC::VSG:, there would appear to be just three trains a week BLR-Goa, and themselves taking some fifteen hours (I guess coming from Mysore, that might still work out more swiftly btw, but you can work it out for yourself).

Goa just isn't that greatly connected, I guess apart from tourism it's just industrially not all that relevant, or something (and, the Ghats do form a barrier between much of the south-west coast and the inlands, certainly. So traffic gets diverted by a few main junctions or corridors, I do think. Even the Mangalore-Goa line and beyond I think, generally known as the Konkan railway line, is renowned for its many tunnels, of which there are indeed an astonishing number.)

btw Just a thought, and this is all off the top of my head, it may be unreliable:

Mysore-Madikeri by bus shouldn't be more than some three hours I think.

Now Madikeri-Mangalore by bus can't have been more than, what, some four hours, I think, when I did it last year. (Maybe six, tops?)

I'd assume there would be direct buses Mysore-Mangalore just as well (more likely than not, the same ones stopping in Madikeri).

You'd want to allow plenty of time for any mishaps (bus having a flat tire or breaking down altogether, general delays, whatever), but still, if you'd have your train ride from there booked, now get over there by bus and allow for plenty of leeway, that ought to work out at way below your 23 hours.

Mangalore-Goa according to Erail would be just about six hours or so indeed, and that is indeed the way I seem to remember it (I was on my way to Mumbai myself -- closest I've ever gotten to Goa, LOL So halting at some station there in the middle of the night, to be precise. Didn't seem immediately unattractive to me )

Thanks for the information, Machadinha. It seems that Mysore - Mangalore - Goa is about the same as Mysore - Bangalore - Goa in terms of travel time. I have a car arranged from the airport in Bangalore to Mysore, so I'll probably just get the car to take me to the train station in Bangalore, then take the train from there to Goa. It'll save a long layover between trains in Bangalore. I appreciate you supplying me the link; I hadn't found that one.

Train 7301, Mysore 21:30, Hubli 06:00. (daily)

Train 8047, Hubli 09:00, Madgaon 13:40 (Mon, Wed, Thu & Sat only)

Book in Sleeper Class side berths for train 8047, and if no berths available, book train 7603, it's the same train, but a portion of it that started it's journey in Hyderabad before joining up with 8047.

Sleeper Class would be great as it's a REALLY scenic daytime journey.

##Please note that the distance from Mysore to Madgaon via Hasan, Sakleshpur is 119+189+318=626Kms., WHEREAS the distance from Mysore to Madgaon via Hasan, Ariskere, Hubli, Londa is 166+303+91+109=669Kms.

[The 318 Kms. distance of Mangalore-Madgaon is charged for 437Kms.]

##In either case, there is no direct train from Mysore to Madgaon.

Hello,

the boyfriend and I are going to India in September and we were hoping to take the train from Delhi to Varanasi and then on to Shimla to spend some time in Darjeeling. Do you know if it is possible to get a direct train from Varanasi to Shimla? Also, my boyfriend's been told that you can't be guaranteed berths in the same cabin (if that's the right word...), is this true?

Many thanks,
Rhiannon.

? Shimla (or Simla) is nowhere near to Darjeeling, they're at different ends of the country, rather (north-west and north-east, respectively). Unless you're thinking of a Shimla I don't know about, it's possible.

http://erail.in/ Mentions that "Hill trains to Simla start from Kalka (KLK). Kalka is linked with Chandigarh (CDG), Ambala (UMB) and New Delhi (NDLS)."

If you book your train tickets in one go, your seats/berths will be allotted as close to one another as possible. If that doesn't work out conveniently, try to settle it on board with your fellow passengers or with the TTE = ticket examiner, to see if you can swap seats.

sigh, i've just taken over planning from my boyfriend on this - clearly his research of watching bbc repeats of 'indian hill railways' has left him a little confused. Sorry for the nonsense question! and thankyou for the reply!

Heheh, y'r welcome.

A good guidebook will come into use, I kid you not Feel free to return with stuff that's unclear to you.

I'm late on this one, but the most simple is taking direct bus from Mysore to Goa, there are multiple ones every day (overnights) to both Margao and Panjim (same bus, just tell them your final stop). I've done it a couple times. I know this is a train thread but that's much simpler than a 23 hour multiple stop train, I think..

How long would that take, CCG? <-- Honest question, would be handy to know.

Ooh sorry thought I said. The bus to Margao is between 12-13 hours, Panjim is another 1-2 beyond that. So maximum 15 hours. Long time on a bus, but I don't mind the overnights.

Could be rather more convenient than a day spent with several changes of trains or buses yes. Thanks for filling it in

blew it, blew it, cancelled a ticket in hand in hopes of getting a different date. stupid, but that's what happened. now trying to score a ticket, chakki bank to varanasi, june 4 or 5. was told I could get on foreign tourist quota but went to office in dhasa and they said it couldn't be done from there. regular tickets booked out, have arranged with agent in mcleod to try for taktal, but not confident. IS it impossible to get FTQ ticket? or are there any other options? kicking myself, hard...

Hello Rhiannon, and welcome to indiamike

The 'berths in same cabin' bit, in theory, you can't be guaranteed, in practice, almost always given in same cabin.

But cabins are only used in 1st class air con, and there are 2-berth and 4 berth cabins, and it really is anyone's guess if you'll get a 2 berth 'coupe'.

Most trains don't have 1st class air con, in other classes, you'll almost always be put in the same carriage, and almost always seated together, though booking late can see you seated separately.

Have a read of the 'How to get the best replies' thread (link below), and think of other questions, this website can give some very useful replies, but the more detail you supply, the more useful the replies will be.