Trains in India are the most popular and cheapest way to travel around the country. There is simply no alternative to this transport, so if you have planned an independent trip to India, then you will obviously have to get acquainted with the features of the railways of this unusual and colorful country. And our article will give you all the necessary information in order to make this trip comfortable and memorable.
Indian trains: general information
You will never forget to travel by train in India, no matter which car you choose. In any case, the train will be crowded with various people who want to talk with a white tourist, and all Indians will be extremely friendly and active. If you shun such communication, then you should buy tickets of the highest class in order to minimize meetings with local residents. But keep in mind that in almost any train you will be the most important attraction that catches everyone's eyes.
Unfortunately, a train wreck in India is not uncommon. Approximately ten new cases, in which the number of casualties is in the hundreds, are replenished annually by rail wreck statistics. Most often, such incidents are caused by a large depreciation of the railway track and the human factor. Train drivers usually work for several days without shift changes, trying to earn more money, which ultimately leads to terrible wrecks.
But all tourists who are in love with the land of tea plantations and elephants unequivocally advise from their experience to find out how they travel by train in India. Otherwise, you won’t be able to really feel the local flavor. But after him, many come to this country.
Train Travel: A Comfortable Travel Option
If you are not tempted by the prospect of shaking in a crowded carriage, but still want to see the whole country, then special tourist trains in India have been invented for these purposes. They are often called luxurious, and they offer travelers seven-day tours during which you will see the most beautiful places in the country and be immersed in the amazing life of local residents.
Currently, there are six such trains in India, each of which goes on its own route. All cars in these trains are equipped with air conditioning and belong to the increased comfort class. During the week-long trip you will not experience absolutely any inconvenience, because the price of the tour includes meals and several excursions.
It is worth considering that such a trip is quite expensive - the price of a tour per person ranges from three thousand dollars.
What does an Indian train station look like?
Trains in India, the photos of which we presented in our article, fade compared to local railway stations. They are a very special place where the mentality of the Indians is fully reflected. It is worth noting that the stations in small towns look quite deserted and clean, here people gather only at the moment of train arrival. But the stations of large cities represent a completely different picture - here the Indians are day and night.
The local population is not confused by the flea market, stuffiness and complete unsanitary conditions - they are happy to stay the night at the station, sitting right on the floor. Quite often, they don’t even have a cloak or warm clothes with them, so they fit on a newspaper and spend more than one night this way. Usually there are so many sleeping people that in order to get to the right place on the platform, it is necessary to step over people sleeping on the sidelines.
Each railway station has a ticket office, but its employees practically do not speak English, so buying tickets is complicated by this fact. At some stations there is a special tourist ticket office, it will be much easier to purchase tickets here. In addition, they are sold at a special quota created for tourists. But we will talk about this a little later.
Classes of trains in India: wagons
If you have never traveled on Indian trains, then it will be quite difficult for you to navigate the variety of classes and types of cars in trains. We will try to clarify the situation and facilitate the process of choosing the right car. So, the classes of trains in India:
We will talk about each of them in more detail, but keep in mind that the Indian classification system assumes the presence of different classes of cars in the same composition. As a rule, one wagon corresponds to a certain class.
Common Wagon (GN): Travel Features
We can say that a common carriage is a real national train in India. You will have to communicate with people every minute, because there will even be too many of them here. Tickets for this car are sold without a seat, so people are stuffed not only into the car and the vestibule, but even into the toilet. All the way they will sing songs, talk and try to treat you with something.
A ticket to a common carriage is worth a mere penny by Indian standards, there are no air conditioners and glasses. There are bars on the windows, and there are fans on the ceiling, which, however, never work.
Controllers almost never check tickets in a common carriage, so there’s a lot of “rabbits” here. The departure time and train number are not indicated on the ticket itself; only the departure station and final destination are printed here. Many travelers transfer from one train to another during the journey, the main thing is that they go in a given direction.
Reserved Car (SL)
This frequency car is called a sleeping one, it bears a great resemblance to our usual reserved seat. There are no air conditioners inside the car, the windows are barred and fully blown. There are numerous fans on the ceiling. Instead of the usual four shelves in this car, there are six of them; they are arranged in three rows. In the afternoon, all passengers ride while sitting on the lower shelves. At night there is an opportunity to lie down. They don’t give linen in reserved seats; meals are also not provided.
Reserved seat with air conditioning (3A)
This car is not much different from the previous one, it costs a little more and has an air conditioner that never turns off. In this regard, glass is inserted in the windows, and they are tightly closed. There are practically no strangers in such a car and they give out linen with a blanket at night. During the trip, a conductor will drop in quite often, which ensures the complete safety of passengers.
Reserved seat second class (2A)
Trains in India are rarely equipped with similar wagons. They have four shelves and are usually fenced off with a blind. The fare in cars of this class is equivalent to about three dozen dollars.
Seated Wagon (SS)
This car looks like a bus. It is equipped with several rows of comfortable chairs and air conditioning. Unfortunately, on popular Indian routes, this car is very rare.
First class car (1A)
This trip will cost you dearly, on average it will be equal to the cost of air travel. But then you will find yourself in a double coupe with soft sofas and air conditioning. Before the train leaves, you will receive bottled water, the reserves of which can be replenished free of charge at each major station. Please note that this water is the cleanest in the country.
If you want a snack, you can order food through the guide. You will be sure to bring everything as soon as possible. The only drawback may be the orientation of this food to the tastes of the Indians - it will definitely be spicy.
Classification of Indian trains
In addition to the classification of wagons, trains in India are also divided into their categories. The most convenient is the express train, it moves extremely fast for India and has an increased level of comfort. In addition, express trains are considered the most accurate trains, they are only a couple of hours late, which is quite normal for Indian railways.
Ordinary trains move very slowly, are packed full of people and are characterized by incredible unsanitary conditions. In addition, they have the habit of being late for ten to twelve hours.
Travel quotas
Indian Railways have several ticket quotas. It depends on them how you will travel, so this information will be useful to you. So, quotas are as follows:
- confirmed - with this status you will receive a specific seat in the car that will be yours throughout the trip;
- half (RAC) - this abbreviation means that you have half the space that you will share with another passenger if someone does not release the previously confirmed reservation;
- without a seat (WL) - in this case, you have every chance of being out of place if you don’t get the line (each ticket has a number indicating the number of people in front of you).
Tickets with a tourist quota are sold separately, they are confirmed, but are sold only in specialized places. You can contact the cash desk working for foreign tourists, or the travel agency. But in the latter case, another percent will be taken from you for the work of the employees of the travel company.
How to buy train tickets in India?
As in any other country in the world, in India you can buy train tickets at the railway ticket office and through the Internet. Buying at the box office seems very difficult, because no one speaks English at the station and there is no habit of posting train schedules indicating the time of departure. But in this case, you will receive paper train tickets. India is a country where the itinerary receipt on the screen of a tablet or phone may not be a weighty argument for boarding a train.
If you prefer to buy tickets only through the Internet, then be prepared to overcome a number of difficulties. For example, you can pay the fare only with an Indian bank card. And the main site of railways does not have a mobile version, which makes buying through a phone absolutely impossible. Various intermediary sites that install on any phone as an application and are ready to accept payment with your card for a small percentage will help you. Please note that in India, train tickets are sold three months before the trip. Therefore, by the time the train leaves, they almost completely disappear from the sale.
India is a vibrant and distinctive country that can appear before travelers in an absolutely unusual perspective. To see all her beauties, it is worth taking a chance and getting a train ticket. We are sure that this will be your most unforgettable trip in life.