train to Jaisalmer (coming from the north/ish)

jlp

Hi,
I have found this site great for so many useful and practical tips and pointers. I'm about to dig around the indian gov rail site trying to figure out how to get a train into Jaisalmer. Coming from Manali by bus, where would be the best place to jump off the bus and get on a train? Is it from Pathnakot to Johdpur then out to Jaislamer?...and then back to Jodphur to head southwards to Mumbai? (have to end up there to meet up with friends).Time is a bit of a factor as haven't loads of it to spend in Rajasthan...mores the pity....so can't spend a "maharaja month" wandering the desert on a camel. Our group loves train travel and will be doing the regular sleeping class on most routes we will be taking. Teenage son insists on us not separating ourselves from the peoples of india by locking ourselves up in an aircon sleeper.....mmmmmm....well....
We're travelling in August....and soooo looking forward to it!! Suggestions for best trains?
thanks!!

nayan

you donot necessarily lock yourselves up from the people of india if you are travelling air conditioned 3 tier or air conditioned 2-tier. you co-passengers will be Indians.

In august its definitely better idea to go AC.

sssall

jlp, I think you've got the train route right.

Train 9224 leaves Pathankot at 11.05am and gets to Jodhpur 06.20am the following day.

There is a useful rail network map on the indianrail website under 'information'.

good luck.

jlp

I've found the indiagroove website useful for the train schedules where there are connections... Thinking of staying a night in dharamsala to break bus trip from Manali. THen taking bus from there to jalandhar where we'll get on 9224 express.
Any idea how long it takes to get from dharamsala to jalandhar by bus? assume buses would leave in the early am.

yes, air con would be good in the lowlands that time of year!! The son is going to wish he had it too when mother gets stroppy! I'll see if I can sneak in an AC2 or 3 booking!! THanks for the tips guys.

steven_ber

Just a thought ....

Can you get a bus from Dharamsala to Chandigarh? (the map in my head says you can)
There's an overnight train from Chandigarh to Bikaner (Deshnok is the station after Bikaner if you want to visit the rat temple)

The Chandigarh - Bikaner train is much better timed than 9224, it departs Chandigarh at 22:35 and arrives at Bikaner at 11:10, then Deshnok at 11:58, 9224 gets to Bikaner at about 01:00.

The rat temple is a 3 minute walk from Deshnok station, then you can get buses direct from the temple back to Bikaner (30kms, regular buses).

So you could go to Bikaner/Deshnok, then Jaisalmer, then Jodhpur and on to Mumbai.

There's a daytime and an overnight train from Bikaner/Lalgarh Jn to Jaisalmer.

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faustus77

u hve overnite jodhpur jasalmer dep 2325 arr0530 no4810 and it has 3ac as well as ordinary sleeper

Aishah

And another way for you to consider jlp, is Manali - Delhi, then direct train Delhi to Jaisalmer.
I'm moving your question into the trains forum- Indian Railways,jlp, but anything pertinent to Rajasthan please post there! Enjoy your trip.

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machadinha

For Jaisalmer-Mumbai, if you check IndiaGroove, you'll find most trains go over Jodhpur anyway yes. I reckon this will be your most comfortable route. Bloody long ride though, but that's just the way it is I suppose (30-50 hours. This includes potentially lengthy layovers in Jodhpur mind, from Jodhpur to Mumbai in itself should be 17-21 hours, always discounting any delays.)

Here's how I did it, I'm not suggesting you should follow suit: Jeep to Barmer (friends gave me a ride, I'm not sure about public transport for this stretch. There must be buses though, Barmer's a major connection point I think), bus to Ahmedabad, train to Mumbai. Took me not even 24 hours I think, pretty arduous journey though. If you're going for comfort, better catch that train I guess.

This was at the suggestion of those local people btw.

(I see now you could catch a train from Barmer actually, 28-36 hours including another lengthy layover.)

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Aishah

Another way is Jaisalmer - Ahmedabad by overnight bus, it goes through Barmer btw. Buses are regularly going to Barmer only too.
The road is now very good, it had washouts after flooding the year before last, but all fixed and an excellent surface.

vsp27759

Dear jlp,

From Jaisalmer come to Jodhpur by day-time train, and then get into 2479 Suryanagari Express:
----
You Queried For Train No Train Name Date Runs From Source Runs On
2479 SURYA NAGRI EXP 08/05/2008 JODHPUR JN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

SNo Stn Code Stn Name Route No. Arrival Time Dep. Time Distance Day Remark
1 JU JODHPUR JN 1 Source 18:45 0 1
2 LUNI LUNI JN 1 19:23 19:26 32 1
3 PMY PALI MARWAR 1 19:54 19:56 73 1
4 MJ MARWAR JN 1 20:45 20:50 104 1
5 RANI RANI 1 21:21 21:23 156 1
6 FA FALNA 1 21:49 21:51 170 1
7 JWB JAWAI BANDH 1 22:04 22:06 186 1
8 ABR ABU ROAD 1 23:26 23:31 269 1
9 PNU PALANPUR JN 1 00:51 00:53 322 2
10 MSH MAHESANA JN 1 01:55 01:57 387 2
11 ADI AHMEDABAD JN 1 03:30 03:50 460 2
12 BRC VADODARA JN 1 05:35 05:40 559 2
13 ST SURAT 1 07:28 07:33 688 2
14 BVI BORIVALI 1 10:59 11:01 921 2
15 BDTS BANDRA TERMINUS 1 11:45 Destination 940 2
---------------------
##Since you are in a group of 20 people, perhaps, the journey by train should make you comfortable.

jlp

thanks for all the info and ideas guys....still working on the itinerary, have had some distractions here at home but now getting close to having main train bookings ready to go.
You have been very helpful....