Peru Travel: Machu Picchu Train Changes in the Rainy Season

Travelers to Cusco in February should be aware of factors that may impact their visit. Train travel from Cusco to Machu Picchu is modified.

If you’re visiting Machu Picchu in February, or any other month during the rainy season, you should be aware of some factors that may impact your travel. The most significant change is that train travel is modified between Cusco and Machu Picchu.

Throughout most of the year, travelers wishing to move between these two destinations are able to travel by train with no problem. However, during the months of January and February, heavy rains may produce landslides, both big and small, that can temporarily shut down the roads and railways between Cusco, Ollantaytambo, and Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu village).

Although constant maintenance work performed on the tracks during the period of rains, landslides are never fully preventable. Small landslides may cause delays in car and rail traffic, whereas large landslides can completely cut off access to and from Aguas Calientes.

As a precautionary measure, rail travel between Cusco and Ollantaytambo is completely eliminated, while travel between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes operates normally. Of course, this latter route is also subject to closure if heavy rains unexpectedly produce a landslide.

If you’re traveling from Cusco (or returning to Cusco), it is still possible to purchase a train ticket with the route Cusco to Aguas Calientes, or vice versa. For the going route, the difference is that instead of boarding a train in Cusco, passengers board a bus that takes the roads to Ollantaytambo. Passengers are then escorted onto the train and travel by rail to Aguas Calientes. On the return route, passengers travel by rail from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo, and then board a bus for the final leg to Cusco. In Cusco, buses arrive to and depart from the train station in Wanchaq, which is about 5 minutes by car from the Plaza de Armas.

If you have purchased your train tickets and Machu Picchu entry tickets from a travel agency, the agency will usually arrange transport from your hotel to the train station in Cusco to catch the bus to Ollantaytambo. They also arrange the reverse trip upon your return.

If you have purchased your tickets independently, you will most likely have to arrange your own transportation to and from the train station. Taxi drivers are familiar with the Wanchaq train station and there are usually taxis waiting outside the train station when the buses arrive from Ollantaytambo.

For travel to and from Machu Picchu with the final destination in Ollantaytambo, travelers need not to worry about the bus. You or your travel agency will arrange transport from here to other points in the Sacred Valley or back to Cusco.

Article Tags: Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, Train Station

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