Before recognizing Jesus, the Emmaus disciples urge him not to continue because evening is approaching. After recognizing him, they rise 'the same hour' and return to Jerusalem.
The contrast is easy to miss unless the distance and conditions of ancient travel are kept in view.
Luke has placed Emmaus about sixty stadia from Jerusalem, roughly seven miles by the common reckoning of the stadion. Walking such a distance could take several hours, and travel after sunset lacked modern road lighting and transportation.
The text does not describe the precise road conditions or exact hour of their return, so those details should not be reconstructed beyond Luke's account.
The travel context turns their return into a measure of urgency. The very conditions that had justified stopping for the night no longer keep them in Emmaus.
The disciples have news they consider important enough to reverse course immediately. Their physical journey back to Jerusalem mirrors the abrupt reversal from disappointed hope to resurrection conviction.