In shortPeruRail and Inca Rail both run the rail leg to Machu Picchu. Most services start at Ollantaytambo, about 1 hour 45 minutes from Aguas Calientes. From Poroy the ride is about 3 hours 30 minutes, and bimodal services leave Cusco by bus from San Pedro or Poroy and transfer to the train at Pachar. Citadel entry is not included in a train ticket, so that is a second purchase.
about 1 h 45 minOllantaytambo to Aguas Calientes
about 3 h 30 minPoroy to Aguas Calientes
8 kg or 12 kgPeruRail hand baggage
30 minutesboarding closes before departure
Where to board, and how long each start takes
Board at Ollantaytambo if the choice is yours. PeruRail puts that stretch at about 1 hour 45 minutes and elsewhere describes the same rails as roughly 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, while the standard routing allows about 2 hours. Day-tour operators keep repeating that published train times are indicative, so confirm your departure the day before you travel instead of trusting a screenshot taken weeks earlier.
Starting in the city costs you time in two ways. Staying on rails from Poroy means about 3 hours 30 minutes to Aguas Calientes. The bimodal option works differently: since 1 September 2025 PeruRail's bimodal services leave from San Pedro or Poroy and switch from bus to train at Pachar station on selected schedules, which puts a transfer with your bags in the middle of the morning. Plenty of travellers skip the Cusco rails altogether and meet the train down the valley instead: the road to Ollantaytambo runs about 1 hour 30 minutes, 61 km if you go through Chinchero and Urubamba, 92 km if you go round by Pisac, Calca and Urubamba.
Ollantaytambo station sits on Av. Ferrocarril, and the PeruRail point of sale inside it works from 04:15 to 21:00 every day, holidays included. Sleep in the Sacred Valley the night before and the rail leg shrinks back to the hour and three quarters it should be.
| Departure point | How it runs | Time to Aguas Calientes |
|---|
| Ollantaytambo | Train the whole way | About 1 h 45 min (PeruRail also states roughly 1 h 30 min to 2 h) |
|---|
| Poroy (Cusco) | Train the whole way | About 3 h 30 min |
|---|
| Cusco San Pedro or Poroy | Bimodal: bus, then train after the transfer at Pachar on selected schedules | No single published figure in official sources; allow the road leg plus the rail leg |
|---|
| Cusco by road to Ollantaytambo | Van or car, then train | About 1 h 30 min by road, then about 1 h 45 min by rail |
|---|
The rail leg handled for you
One full day from Cusco with the expedition train in both directions, the shuttle to the gate and the entry ticket arranged, from $419 and rated 5.0 ★ (321 reviews).
★ 5.0/5 · 321 reviews
Service classes and baggage, operator by operator
Service class is the main variable each operator sells. The basic tiers are PeruRail Expedition and Inca Rail Voyager, and most packaged days ride one of them. Above them come the panoramic services, Vistadome among them, with the larger windows the carriage is named for. At the top sits a premium train with meals and drinks on board, live entertainment, its own shuttle transfers to the citadel, a guided visit and tea time at the lodge by the gate, entrance fee included in the fare.
Class does not touch your entry hour or your time inside the ruins, because the citadel ticket fixes both. Where the carriage does register is on the invoice: the same day out of Cusco with private transfers, train, bus, Circuit 2 entry and a guide is reported at US$325 to 429 per person in a group of 2 to 8, and US$375 to 479 taken private, and the train class is what moves you within those spans.
Baggage is where the two operators diverge enough to ruin a morning. One item per passenger is the rule, and anything past it either costs money or waits in custody at the station.
- PeruRail: one backpack within 8 kg and 100 cm of total dimensions, or one carry-on within 12 kg and 115 cm
- Inca Rail: one hand item of up to 8 kg, with larger bags left in custody
- PeruRail excess on the Machu Picchu route: $15 for a carry-on, $25 for a checked bag
- PeruRail excess on the Ollantaytambo route: $5 and $10
- Day tours work to a tighter figure still: no more than 5 kg plus a small backpack
What the fare covers, and what you still have to buy
A rail fare buys you the seat and the ride; PeruRail's own Expedition page says the Machu Picchu entrance is not included in the train ticket. Rail tickets and citadel tickets sit on two separate systems, and the citadel ticket is the one that sells out in a way no amount of asking at a counter will fix.
The entry ticket is sold only through the official portal at tuboleto.cultura.pe or an authorised counter, or by an agency registered with the Ministry of Culture's Cusco office. It carries your full name and ID document number, those details cannot be changed afterwards, and since the resolutions of 11 September 2026 choosing a slot does not hold it: payment has to clear within 15 minutes. On the Ministry tariff a foreign visitor pays S/152 general on the standard circuits and S/200 on routes 3-A and 3-C, with a separate SERNANP sanctuary amount of S/11 for a foreign adult over 18 since 1 May 2026.
One exception is worth knowing. Inca Rail's All-Inclusive fare bundles the Machu Picchu entry ticket, the Consettur bus and a guided tour of the citadel into the rail price. Everywhere else you add the shuttle yourself, a regulated fare of about US$24 round trip for foreign visitors on a single-operator road, bought at the Avenida Hermanos Ayar booth or online in advance.
Station rules that make people miss trains
Access to the platform shuts 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure, which is also how early Inca Rail tells passengers to be at the station. Treat that earlier moment as your real departure time. A later train will not patch the gap, because your citadel ticket names you and prints one single hour, the gate admits you up to 30 minutes past it in low season and 45 minutes in high season, and a ticket left unused keeps no value and cannot be moved to another date unless you can document force majeure.
Weigh your bag the night before. The 8 kg and 12 kg lines are enforced, and whatever is over goes into station storage, which PeruRail provides at no charge at Ollantaytambo from 04:15 to 21:00 and at Machu Picchu station from 05:00 to 22:00.
Schedules move. Operators themselves describe published times as indicative, so check your departure on the day you travel, especially when that train has to connect with a specific entry hour.
When to book, and which leg to pay extra for
Book the citadel ticket first, then the train. The full-day tour on this site advises reserving five months ahead because the entry ticket and circuit are subject to availability, and the longest leads fall in high season: 1 January, 2 to 5 April, 19 June to 2 November and 30 to 31 December 2026, when the daily cap is 5,600 visitors against 4,500 on all other dates. Trekkers work to a different calendar, with the 2026 Inca Trail permits released month by month between 27 October and 4 November 2025 at 9:00 a.m. local time.
Spend the upgrade on the leg you ride in daylight. On the published timetable of a packaged day from Cusco, pickup is at 05:20, the van reaches Ollantaytambo in about two hours, the train leaves at 08:29 and arrives at 09:54, the printed entry hour falls between 11:00 and 14:00, and the hotel return is around 20:40. The outbound run has the valley in front of you; the return you spend tired and in the dark, so panoramic windows earn their money going in.
If the panoramic carriage has nothing on the hour you need, take the basic class and keep the entry hour. Expedition and Voyager put you on the same track at the same time, and your 2 hours 30 minutes inside the citadel on Route 2-A does not depend on the glass above your head.
Trips on this site that already include the rail leg
Lining up three bookings and a baggage rule yourself is avoidable, since the trips listed here carry the train inside the itinerary. Machu Picchu Tour Full Day by Train fills 16 hours from $419 and carries a 5.0 ★ rating from 321 reviews; the expedition train is in the price in both directions, along with the shuttle between town and the gate, expert guides, pickup and drop-off and the entry ticket with the circuit subject to availability. The group forms at Cusco main square, and cancelling at least 24 hours before departure returns the full amount.
The calmer version splits the travel over two days. On the 2-Day Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu Tour from Cusco by Train, 2 days from $449 with 4.8 ★ from 1294 reviews, the tourist train and a night in a private room in Aguas Calientes come as one package, so you reach the gate from town rather than from Cusco; Circuit 2 allocation is prioritised subject to Ministry availability, and a single English-speaking local guide covers the valley and the citadel.
Walkers touch the line once, going home. Inca Trail 4-Day Trek to Machu Picchu with the Vistadome return fills 4 days from $835 and holds 5.0 ★ across 11551 reviews, using tourist-class rail on the final day after walking in, with a personal porter up to 7 kg, all meals, camping and the entrance fee in the price, and the Vistadome service applying to departures through January 2027. For how the rail leg compares with the road, the bimodal services and the Hidroeléctrica walk-in, see the getting-there comparison on this site.
Questions people ask
Does the train go all the way to Machu Picchu?
No. The line ends at Machu Picchu station in Aguas Calientes, below the ridge. The last climb is by shuttle, 8 km of road with roughly 13 hairpin bends in 20 to 25 minutes, with the first departure at 5:30 a.m.; the alternative is the footpath, about 1,700 steps and 400 m of vertical gain in 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 45.
Can I buy a train ticket at the station on the day?
There are counters: PeruRail sells inside Ollantaytambo station from 04:15 to 21:00 and inside Machu Picchu station in Aguas Calientes from 05:00 to 22:00, with two further offices on Av. Imperio de los Incas open 05:30 to 20:00 and 09:30 to 19:00. Leaving it to the day is still a gamble, since your citadel ticket is tied to a printed hour and cannot be moved.
Where do I leave a suitcase if the baggage limit is only 8 kg?
At the station. Both ends of the line have PeruRail storage at no charge, open daily: 04:15 to 21:00 at Ollantaytambo, 05:00 to 22:00 at Machu Picchu station. Going over the allowance on the train instead costs $15 for a carry-on and $25 for a checked bag on the Machu Picchu route, and $5 and $10 on the Ollantaytambo route.
Is there a way into Aguas Calientes that avoids the train?
The Hidroeléctrica option swaps the rails for a long road run from Cusco through Santa María and Santa Teresa, finishing with a flat 10 km walk beside the track into town. That stretch takes 2 to 3 hours on foot and the corridor carries landslide risk in the wet season, which sits badly with an entry hour that tolerates only 30 minutes of lateness in low season and 45 in high season.
Do Inca Trail trekkers still need a train ticket?
They walk in and ride out. The 4-day Inca Trail trip on this site includes the tourist-class train on the final day, and trail arrivals enter the citadel on Route 3-B under a reserved daily quota booked and paid through an authorised agency. February is off the calendar: the trail network shuts for rain-season maintenance and no reservations are issued for those dates.
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