Need suggestion for Bangalore to Cochin

LostCoastSteve

My wife and I will be traveling from Bangalore to Cochin, probably on November 12. We have an evening flight out of Cochin on November 17, so we'll have six days to visit Kerala, including travel days.

I can take an overnight train (6526 KANYAKUMARI EXP or 6321 TRIVANDRUM EXP).

I think I can take a day train (2677 ERNAKULAM EXP), but the erail.in site lists it, but it says it can't find the route for this train. Does anyone know about it?

Questions: If I can take the day train, is this a scenic route and worth spending a day on the train? Or would you recommend a night train?

And what about taking the train from Bangalore to Mangalore and then south along the coast to Eranakulum? I think this would add an extra day of travel, but it might be fun and scenic? Has anyone here done this?

I'm open to your input and suggestions.

c195ikon

Dear Lost Coast,
The overnight trains are a better bet. Note - there is also the Garib Rath that starts from Yeshwantpur in Blore and has a good start and running time. ( also runs on Sun Tue and Thurs and fits into your schedule)

The route for the 2677 is
You Queried For Train No Train Name Date Runs From Source Runs On
2677 ERNAKULAM EXP 19/10/2009 BANGALORE CY JN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

1 SBC BANGALORE CY JN 1 Source 06:15 0 1
2 BNC BANGALORE CANT 1 06:25 06:27 5 1
3 HSRA HOSUR 1 07:18 07:20 60 1
4 DPJ DHARMAPURI 1 08:38 08:40 152 1
5 SA SALEM JN 1 10:18 10:20 218 1
6 SGE SANKARIDRUG 1 10:51 10:52 260 1
7 ED ERODE JN 1 11:15 11:30 281 1
8 TUP TIRUPPUR 1 12:08 12:10 331 1
9 CBE COIMBATORE JN 1 13:05 13:10 381 1
10 PGT PALAKKAD 1 14:10 14:12 436 1
11 TCR THRISUR 1 15:10 15:12 513 1
12 AWY ALUVA 1 16:03 16:05 568 1
13 ERS ERANAKULAM JN 1 16:50 Destination 587 1

I hvnt done Eranakulam the way you thought about ( via Mlore) simply becasue it is ardous ...But if you were to give it a thought, the Blore-Mlore train 6515 running on M,W and Fri has a phenomanally scenic view over the western ghats . It arrives into Mlore at 1710 hrs . You could then connect with the Malabar express which leaves Mlore at 18:15. However, this train reaches Eranakulam town at 03:30 in the dead of early morning!

ribhu95

The Blore - Mlore route is supposed to be a fantastic one in terms of scenery.

But, do remember the challenge in day travel in India........If u book a non- A/C class, it is going to be more crowded and there will be people boarding in and out et al...

If you book the a/c class you cant enjoy the scenery enough...

Another important thing to remember is that tickets get sold out very fast on the Bangalore - Ernakulam routes...So, you may want to ensure that you have booked your tickets well in advance.

ribhu

qwan

I would not suggest the Bangalore Mangalore route for scenic purposes, because the last time I checked there is only a night train from blore to mlore.
You will not be able to see any scenery, unless your train is late(Once my train reached at 9:30) I was able to see something around subramanya.
That train deliberately goes slow, its so frustrating.

It takes a total of 11 hours from Blore to Mlore and then another 9 hours to Ernakulam.

If you really want to waste a day you could do it to visit some temples and beaches in and around Mangalore and not for the scenic route everyone is suggesting cause the train is a night train.
If you want to visit more places I would suggest going down to Ooty from bangalore. And then make it to Coimbatore and from there to Ernakulam(only if you are feeling adventurous)
There is a train to KodaiKanal. From there take the road to Ooty.
Onward you take the toy train to Metupalaiyam which arguably is one of the best scenic routes in India and from Metupalaiyam take the Nilgiri express to Coimbatore. From Coimbatore there are plenty of train to Kochi

ribhu95

Train 6515 Yeshwantpur - Mangalore Express is a day train - departs Blore at 7.30 AM and reaches Mangalore @ 6.00 PM approx.

Operates on Mon, Wed, and Fri.

This has been running for the past few months.

qwan has possibly travelled in 6517 which is a night train.

ribhu

qwan

Hey Ribhi this is news, I was aware that there was going to be a day train. I have been checking for it every month on irctc.co.in
I just checked last for it on 11 september.(for travelling on october 30th 2009 blore to mlore).
Infact when you and others suggested "the scenic route" before commenting I checked in cleartrip.com and it showed me only the night train.(on September I had checked for all days of the week, but today I only checked for a random date)

Right now I am taking a short break from this comment and gonna check it on irctc.co.in and update this comment...........

Still not finding it, but since you are saying that this train has started I checked in on trainequiry.com.

Again proof that there is a deliberate attempt to discourage travellers on this route(mostly by bus and maybe the air lobby too).
The train is from Yeswanthpur and no Bangalore.
So if you search for mangalore to bangalore(all stations is an option available in both irctc and cleartrip) this train does not show up.
Yeswanthpur is on the outskirts of bangalore and is too far from the city.

I think deliberately this train is hidden. Or else when "all stations" were selected earlier(from bangalore to other cities) Trains from yeswantpur would show up.

Anyways this is not the thread for it.

Thanks for the information. Since the day train is running, I think it would be worth going on that route, but then again how much can you see from the a/c compartment(even from the sleeper also you cannot enjoy the view much unless you go to the door).

But the ooty toy train is open and gives you a great view and the entire journey takes about the same time.
OOty is a hill station means it is cooler. whereas mangalore will be hot and humid.(will not get any colder in November)

LostCoastSteve

I'll reconsider the route going via Ooty. I'd love to take the toy train. However, I cannot find the train on the erail.in or the MakeMyTrip websites. I'm looking for Udagamandalam (UAM) to Metupalaiyam (MTP). How do I make a reservation?

steven_ber

Ooty-Mettupaliayam train. (it has availability in FC for 12/13 November)

I was thinking of suggesting the same route, it's a real great scenic route, but that comes at a price, it can get you down that you pass through such lovely places and can't get off.

The toy train connects at Mettupaliayam with train 2672, departing Mettupaliayam at 19:45 and getting to Coimbatore Jn at 20:30.

The problem with this route is a connecting train at Coimbatore (or Podanur), look at the times.

Coimbatore/Podanur-Ernakulam trains.

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LostCoastSteve

Excellent! I'm assuming (from scanning other threads here) that buses from Mysore to Ooty are plentiful. Can I catch one early enough to get to Ooty before the 3pm departure of the toy train?

I figured out why I could not see results on the erail.in site: I had the "Main Stations" radio button checked. When I selected "All Stations" the UAM to MTP train showed up.

Unfortunately, I can't get it to show up on the MakeMyTrip site. That says "No trains could be found..." Does anyone know the secret to getting MakeMyTrip to recognize the UAM::MTP route?

I think maybe we could spend the night in Coimbatore and then take a morning train to Ernakulam.

qwan

erail.in has all the info
I think if you want to spend more time in ooty you could take a direct flight from bangalore to coimbatore.
The cost is within 2400 rupees.

Then make it from Coimbatore to Mettupallyam to ooty and back.

Also you can try to take the shatabdi to mysore, visit mysore and take the road to Ooty, make sure you travel in the day.

LostCoastSteve

Yes, erail.in has all the info, but you need to select the "All Stations" radio button, otherwise all the info does not show up.

I finally was able to book the Toy train and pay for it using ClearTrip. (irctc kept rejecting my payment, and MakeMyTrip could not even find the train.)

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

ribhu95

Qwan,

Dont take such a sinister view It is coming easy and cool on 1st attempt......might have to do with the day / date of travel.

Chill

ribhu

qwan

Well just checked cleartrip.com for all days of the week in december and could not find a day train listed from Mangalore to bangalore.

Am I taking a sinister view now??

Will check again on irctc.co.in and get back to you.

vsp27759

Dear gwan,

##Please look at this:
---------------------------
6515 YPR MAQ EXPRESS 29-12-2009 YESVANTPUR JN MANGALORE CNTL GENERAL
S.No. Date (DD-MM-YYYY) Class - 3A Class -SL
1 28-12-2009 AVAILABLE 31 REGRET/WL 1
2 30-12-2009 AVAILABLE 44 REGRET/WL 1
3 1- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 46 REGRET/WL 1
4 4- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 49 REGRET/WL 1
5 6- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 49 REGRET/WL 1
6 8- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 49 REGRET/WL 1
.............................. ..........
6515 YPR MAQ EXPRESS 29-12-2009 YESVANTPUR JN MANGALORE CNTL GENERAL
S.No. Date (DD-MM-YYYY) Class - 2S Class -SL
1 28-12-2009 AVAILABLE 510 REGRET/WL 1
2 30-12-2009 AVAILABLE 537 REGRET/WL 1
3 1- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 540 REGRET/WL 1
4 4- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 553 REGRET/WL 1
5 6- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 553 REGRET/WL 1
6 8- 1-2010 AVAILABLE 551 REGRET/WL 1
.............................. ...........

vsp27759

.....and please note there is no CC and SL in 6515/6516!!!