El Empalme to Rosa Zarate runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:34 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €24.54, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 2h over 177 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €24.54, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for October 7, 2026
€24.54
- 153%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.
- 06:34First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 5Services per day
- 20%Run direct
Ferrocarriles del Ecuador runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for El Empalme to Rosa Zarate on your date, and you pay on their side.
See El Empalme to Rosa Zarate 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 €48.19Sat19
- about €48.74Sun20
- about €39.94Mon21
- about €28.94Tue22
- about €36.64Wed23
- about €48.74Thu24
- about €41.59Fri25
- about €29.49Sat26
- about €37.19Sun27
- about €29.49Mon28
- about €32.24Tue29
- about €25.09Wed30
- about €38.29Thu1
- about €30.04Fri2
- about €26.74Sat3
- about €26.74Sun4
- about €27.29Mon5
- about €26.18Tue6
- about €24.54Wed7
- about €31.14Thu8
- about €31.14Fri9
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 Rosa Zarate. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Rosa Zarate for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from TRANS ESMERALDAS and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Rosa Zarate 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 Rosa Zarate
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €26.7490 days
- €19.0460 days
- €21.2445 days
- €25.0930 days
- €31.1421 days
- €30.0414 days
- €41.597 days
- €39.943 days
- €48.191 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €19.04.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 153 percent. The most expensive point is €48.19, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 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 60 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to El Empalme to Rosa Zarate 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
177 km
154 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services take. The bearing runs north.
Who lives at each end
48,754 → 42,121
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
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 177 km against 154 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, Ambato, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Quito. The gap between arriving and leaving is 68 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 14 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.
Who runs this route
Rosa Zarate is small enough to see in an afternoon, which is easier without the luggage. Storing it is not our business.
Baggage storage near TRANS ESMERALDAS
Most of the points near TRANS ESMERALDAS open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Rosa Zarate 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 Rosa Zarate
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 Rosa Zarate?
The fastest journey from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate takes 2h door to door, of which 1h 20m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 2h 6m, 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 Rosa Zarate?
The cheapest fare from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate is €24.54, as of September 18, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €31.14. 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 Rosa Zarate?
The cheapest way from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate is by train, at €24.54 for one passenger on October 7, 2026. That journey takes 2h 4m 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 Rosa Zarate?
Fares from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €19.04. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 153 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 Rosa Zarate?
Wednesday is the cheapest day to depart from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate, at €25.09. 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 Rosa Zarate?
November is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate, at €20.69 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 Rosa Zarate?
No operator record names El Empalme to Rosa Zarate directly. Ferrocarriles del 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 Rosa Zarate?
20 percent of the services we sell from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate are direct. The rest connect at Latacunga, Ambato, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Quito, with about 68 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 Rosa Zarate use?
Services from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate by train leave from El Empalme station and arrive at Rosa Zarate 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 Rosa Zarate?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from El Empalme to Rosa Zarate 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 Rosa Zarate on September 18, 2026: 177 km of route against 154 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €24.54, and 2h door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Rosa Zarate is somebody else's catalog.
Day trips out of Rosa Zarate and across Ecuador
Day trips that leave Rosa Zarate in the morning and cover a good part of Ecuador by evening.
See Rosa Zarate 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. Rosa Zarate reaches 12 places in 1 countries, from 73 to 284 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving El Empalme
- 11Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 2Operators
Arriving in Rosa Zarate
Leaving Rosa Zarate
- 12Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 1Operators