Mumbai-Goa-Kerala, train warning for Nov-Feb travel

steven_ber

It's that time of the year again, if you want to use trains to get up or down the West coast (including Gujarat-Goa) you have to book early.

Also see Goa - Hampi info at the bottom of this post.

Train running in November, December and January get booked up quickly, you need to book at least a month in advance for certain trains, and for dates around Christmas & New Year, you need to be ready to book 60 days in advance to get your required berth of the train of your choice.

Trains can be booked 60 days in advance using this website.

I-Ticket = book on the net, have it delivered to an address in India, a hotel or travel agent for example, you can no longer pick these tickets up at the station.

E-Ticket = Book on the net, then print the ticket on your home computer.


Advance reservations.

Most tickets can only be booked 60 days in advance, a few tickets can only be booked 30 days in advance. (Some Intercity and daytime, short distance trains)


Opening times for train bookings.

Booking through Internet is allowed from 5 AM to 11.30 PM (IST)
23:30 - 18:00 GMT

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I've updated the Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai train info, it includes all train times, costs, classes of accommodation and stations to use for most beaches.

The train information is valid from November 1st, a special monsoon timetable operates till then, see here and here for the monsoon times.(pdf)

Other pdf files for trains from November 1st.

Gujarat-Mumbai-Goa-Kerala trains.

Kerala-Goa-Mumbai-Gujarat trains.

There are more Express trains running from Mangalore going south.

There are also slow passenger trains running through Goa and south to Mangalore, these can be really useful, just ask for more details.


Goa - Hampi

These trains will also need to be booked early, especially for late December - early January.

Hospet is the closest train station to Hampi (13 km)

Hospet train station is 500m north of the bus stand, buses depart frequently for the 30 minute bus trip to Hampi.

Goa to Hospet (for Hampi)

Train 2848 departs Madgaon (Tu, Th, F, Su. only) at 08:15 and gets to Hospet at 15:10.



Hospet to Goa

Train 2847 departs Hospet (M, W, Th, Sa. only) at 06:30 and gets to Madgaon at 13:43.

This train has a good chance of running up to a couple of hours late as it starts it's journey in Calcutta, get your hotel to check if the train is late, it's a simple telephone call for them.


2-tier air con = Rs 659
3-tier air con = Rs 476
Sleeper Class = Rs 189 (not air con)

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Train information.

Kingfisher

My recent experience trying to book a berth from Mumbai to Goa suggests that weekend travel on the Konkan is especially difficult even well in advance.

As soon as my flight to Mumbai was confirmed in June, I attemped to book a 2ac berth on the Konkan Kanya express almost a full 90 days in advance (before IR reverted to 60 days) and had no luck even getting RAC status on 2ac, 1ac, 3ac, or even sleeper class, for a Saturday night departure in September!

ALPHABAR

Given the problems with booking domestic flights using a card there may be a lot more people trying the train south...

Could you advise on the chances of getting a train berth on the day of travel:

mumbai/goa

OR

mumbai/north karnataka

any class...

i'm arriving early am monday 29 october so avoiding the weekend - will this improve my chances?

steven_ber

The 4 pdf links are not working at the moment, the url's are correct, there seems to be a problem with the Indian Railways website, hopefully they’ll be working soon.

steven_ber

What we need here is someone who's arrived in Mumbai on the 29th October and tried to get to Goa, who could that be.......Me, last year.

You really need to try to book a train on-line, I struggled to find availability 2 weeks ahead of my arrival last year, and eventually travelled in First Class air con.

There will be ways of getting to Goa by train, but maybe without a reservation, if this is the case, a bus would be a better option.

All the trains take about 2 hours longer in the monsoon season, taking the journey time to 14 hours in most trains.

ALPHABAR

thanks steve.

and what about the option of booking a flight on the day i.e an early am flight and not having to hang around ?

any thoughts...

steven_ber

I've no idea, sounds risky though.

shashank.aggarwal

I guess you would be able to do that .. but either their would be no availability or fares would be shooting through the roof..

Someone mentioned couple of days back and six months advance booking for Delhi-Goa flight is costing a phenomenal Rs.25,000 for 26th December and that too with a low cost carrier..

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steven_ber

A bump to remind our weekend viewers.

Sadanand Kamath

I guess, your travel plan to Goa from Mumbai coincides with Ganapati festival on Sept.15 when people working in Mumbai go to their native palces for the festival. Central Railway has announced special trains to Goa during Sept.12-30 (Train No.0105).
Reservation for this train commences from Aug 6.
Check out at http://www.indianrails.gov.in/

Sadanand

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Kingfisher

Yes, I guess that was the problem SK. Fortunately I was able to book a Spicejet flight for the following day (16th) before they shut out foreign credit cards.

Casey

I arrived in Mumbai at 2:00am and was on a plane to Goa at 1:00pm the same day. I purchased the ticket when I arrived in India and payed the same price as I would have if I had booked ahead. This was in mid-October. I have also booked a flight the same day for Udaipur from Delhi and the price was the same as advertised on the websight. I don't think the fare are all different in the way domestic flights are in some other countries (Canada in particular), or at least in my limited experience they were not.

shashank.aggarwal

what I have experienced is that fairs for all airlines are same even if you book them online OR get them over the counter..I mean there would be very small difference like a small service charge or something between website booking OR counter booking..

However booking in advance do help...I purchased tickets for Delhi-Bagdogra-Delhi at only Rs.3000 however that was 3 months in advance and the same tickets were costing Rs.12000 before 15 days of my flying date..

Joph

What I'm writing might not comfort you, but sometimes is a way out:

On my last travel in India I twice wanted to have a train badly, but there were no seats nor beds.
It was a gamble. A long journey without even having a seat is a hell, but if you are lucky.................
They DID sell the trainticket to me, and told me that I just had to wait half an hour on the moving train and than asked the conductor if any reservations were not claimed.
It worked both times. Reservated beds were not claimed, and there for available to sell. I payed the extra fee for the bed or seat and had a 'comfortable'journey regarding Indian standards.

Joph.

machadinha

You can upgrade once on board yes. The obvious downside is if the higher classes are full (and they may well be), this doesn't work. Barring any pity on your state as a clueless whitey and so on, just don't count on it.*

Unreserved class can be an interesting adventure or even very peaceful btw. Can also be sheer hell. Short-distance (meaning anywhere up to half a day in Indian terms) it can be worth a gamble; if it fills up it'll often be just for even shorter stretches. Longer-distance it can be an awkward proposition, but doesn't have to be. Once you've secured a berth it's technically yours anyway -- until you go to the loo in the middle of the night to find it gone, of course.

* Also unsure if this works for all types of trains, i.e. the ones that are "special"/upscale to begin with (Rajdhani etc.) Probably not. Moot point really, they won't have unreserved or even 2nd class I reckon.

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