El Empalme to Guayaquil runs about 6 times a day, with the first departure around 06:32 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €16.84 and €23.44, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 1h 50m over 151 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 2 operators and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares · Priced for October 5, 2026
€16.84 to €23.44
- 214%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving El Empalme
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:32First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 6Services per day
- 33%Run direct
Tren Ecuador runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for El Empalme to Guayaquil on your date, and you pay on their side.
See El Empalme to Guayaquil on Bookaway
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €45.99Sat19
- about €38.84Sun20
- about €40.49Mon21
- about €24.54Tue22
- about €31.69Wed23
- about €37.74Thu24
- about €36.64Fri25
- about €25.64Sat26
- about €26.74Sun27
- about €23.99Mon28
- about €21.24Tue29
- about €21.79Wed30
- about €29.49Thu1
- about €29.49Fri2
- about €23.98Sat3
- about €23.44Sun4
- about €16.84Mon5
- about €18.49Tue6
- about €20.14Wed7
- about €26.19Thu8
- about €25.09Fri9
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Guayaquil. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Guayaquil for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Estación BUEES and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Guayaquil on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book El Empalme to Guayaquil
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €23.4490 days
- €16.2960 days
- €14.6445 days
- €21.7930 days
- €25.0921 days
- €29.4914 days
- €36.647 days
- €40.493 days
- €45.991 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €14.64.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 214 percent. The most expensive point is €45.99, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to El Empalme to Guayaquil and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
151 km
131 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south.
Who lives at each end
48,754 → 2,723,665
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 33% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 67% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 151 km against 131 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Latacunga, Riobamba, Babahoyo, Ambato. The gap between arriving and leaving is 49 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 19 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is ours to fix and you are rebooked at no charge.
Guayaquil is large, and the road in from GYE can take longer than the last hour of the flight. Cars are not our business.
A car waiting when you land in Guayaquil
Settled in advance, so the ride into Guayaquil costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from GYE with Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Estación BUEES
Most of the points near Estación BUEES open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Guayaquil on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about El Empalme to Guayaquil
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from El Empalme to Guayaquil?
The fastest journey from El Empalme to Guayaquil takes 1h 50m door to door, of which 1h 8m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 1h 55m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from El Empalme to Guayaquil?
The cheapest fare from El Empalme to Guayaquil is €16.84, as of September 18, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €28.12. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from El Empalme to Guayaquil?
The cheapest way from El Empalme to Guayaquil is by train, at €16.84 for one passenger on October 5, 2026. That journey takes 1h 52m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book El Empalme to Guayaquil?
Fares from El Empalme to Guayaquil bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €14.64. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 214 percent, measured on September 18, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for El Empalme to Guayaquil?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from El Empalme to Guayaquil, at €21.24. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 18, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for El Empalme to Guayaquil?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from El Empalme to Guayaquil, at €15.74 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from El Empalme to Guayaquil?
No operator record names El Empalme to Guayaquil directly. Ferrocarriles del Ecuador, Tren Ecuador publish service areas covering both ends and may serve it, so we list them as possible operators rather than confirmed ones.
Is there a direct service from El Empalme to Guayaquil?
33 percent of the services we sell from El Empalme to Guayaquil are direct. The rest connect at Latacunga, Riobamba, Babahoyo, Ambato, with about 49 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from El Empalme to Guayaquil use?
Services from El Empalme to Guayaquil by train leave from El Empalme station and arrive at Guayaquil station. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from El Empalme to Guayaquil?
2 of the 2 operators we sell from El Empalme to Guayaquil allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for El Empalme to Guayaquil on September 18, 2026: 151 km of route against 131 km in a straight line, 6 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €16.84, and 1h 50m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Being on the water gives Guayaquil a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Day trips out of Guayaquil and across Ecuador
Day trips that leave Guayaquil in the morning and cover a good part of Ecuador by evening.
See Guayaquil on CivitatisOr browse GetYourGuide
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
El Empalme reaches 11 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 85 to 229 km. Guayaquil reaches 24 places in 11 countries, from 59 to 9,847 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving El Empalme
- 11Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 2Operators
Arriving in Guayaquil
Leaving Guayaquil
- 24Places you can leave for
- 11Countries
- 16Operators