Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TRAIN
Three train systems operate out of Mumbai, but the most important services for travellers
are Central Railways and Western Railways. Tickets for either system can be bought from
any station in South Mumbai or the suburbs that has computerised ticketing.
Central Railways
( 139)
, handling services to the east, south, plus a few trains to the
north, operates from CST. The
reservation centre
( 8am-8pm Mon-Sat, to 2pm Sun)
is on the
southern side of CST. Foreign tourist-quota tickets and Indrail passes can be bought at
Counter 52. You can buy nonquota tickets with a credit card (?90 fee) at counters 10 and
11.
Some Central Railways trains depart from Dadar (D), a few stations north of CST, or
Lokmanya Tilak (LTT), 16km north of CST.
Western Railways
( 139)
has services to the north from Mumbai Central train station, usu-
ally called Bombay Central (BCT). The
reservation centre
( 8am-8pm Mon-Sat, to 2pm Sun)
, op-
posite Churchgate station, has foreign tourist-quota tickets at counter 14.
Getting Around
TO/FROM THE AIRPORTS
International
The international airport has a
prepaid-taxi booth
, with set fares for every neighbour-
hood, outside arrivals. Taxis are ?650/750 (non-AC/AC) to Colaba, Fort and Marine Dr,
and ?380/450 to Bandra, plus a ?10 service charge and ?10 per bag. The journey to Colaba
takes about 45 minutes at night and 1½ to two hours during the day. Tips are not required.
Meru Cabs
( 44224422;
www.merucabs.com
)
has a counter in arrivals. The air-conditioned
metered taxis charge ?27 for the first kilometre and ?20 per kilometre thereafter (25%
more at night). Routes are tracked by GPS, so no rip-offs!
Autorickshaws
queue up at a little distance from arrivals, but they only go as far south as
Bandra. They also charge 25% more midnight to 5am, plus ?3 per large bag.
If you arrive during the day (but not during 'rush hour' - 6am to 11am) and are not
weighed down with luggage, consider the
train
: take an autorickshaw (around ?55) to
Andheri train station and then the Churchgate or CST train (?8, 45 minutes). You can also
take bus 308 to Andheri station, or 321 to Vile Parle station; the bus stand is a short walk
from the arrivals area.
