By train in India: how to use Indian Railways. Trains in India

Despite the fact that India is the second most populous country on the planet, it consistently ranks first in terms of railway congestion, far ahead of China. The role of railway communication for India is difficult to overestimate; it can be compared to the role of the circulatory system for the human body. According to the most conservative estimates, Indian trains transport about 6 billion people and about 350 million tons of cargo per year. It goes without saying that trains are the most popular mode of transport in India.

In any case, the route lies through India. It is possible that during your trip to the Andamans you will want to take a train ride. There is nothing surprising here because it is convenient, inexpensive and very interesting. Prices train tickets in india significantly lower than in Russia, although of course there are many classes here that are responsible for the level of comfort. As in the whole world: the higher the comfort, the higher the price. On Indian trains there are carriages that are more reminiscent of palaces on wheels, and there are those where you can travel almost for free, of course, if you don’t mind being next to a crowd of Indian vagabonds.

Passenger classes on trains

There are 10 classes in total: 1A, 2A, First, 3A, 3E, CC, EC, SL, 2S, UR. Here they are arranged in descending order of comfort and cost, let's start from the very bottom, where the most interesting things are.

• UR (Unreserved)

  

  This is the lowest class of accommodation on Indian trains. Tickets here cost pennies, but few people buy them anyway. As a rule, the Indian Railway Police turns a blind eye to “hares” who dare to travel in this class. The fact is that usually conductors cannot even squeeze into these cars to check tickets. The carriages of this class are filled with various Indian vagabonds and beggars. Get ready to work with your elbows and stand on your toes. Here you can witness how people literally climb into the carriage over their heads. However, if you really need to travel further, but were unable to purchase a ticket, then this solution can help you out, especially if you only have a few hours to travel.
• 2S (Seater class)— here the passenger has his own place where he can simply sit down. The seating area is not very comfortable and one can only dream of air conditioning in the carriage, but for a trip of 2-4 hours it is quite suitable.
• SC (Sleeper class) is the most popular passenger class in India. As a rule, most of the cars on the train are allocated to this class, so it is easier to purchase tickets for it. From the name it becomes clear that this is a class where you can even sleep. It can be compared to our reserved seat carriages, only the ceilings here are higher, and the third shelf is also reserved for a passenger seat. Here they are already trying to drive away stowaways and even clean up the place sometimes. There are no air conditioners, but the car is well ventilated from the windows and is equipped with many fans in the ceiling, which prevent the air from getting hot while the train is stationary. If you plan to travel long distances in this class, we recommend taking some kind of cape or sheet with you so that you can lay it on the shelf and sleep.
• EC (Executive class chair car) This class is only available on a certain type of train - Shatabdi Express. Here you will find comfortable seats arranged 4 in a row and air conditioning. Used for day trips.
• AC (AC chair car)

  

  This is about the same as the previous class. Here you will find air conditioning and comfortable seats, similar to those installed on airplanes. It is relatively clean here, both locally and in the restrooms. Used most often for day trips.
• 3E (AC three tier) This is a luxury reserved seat car. Here, too, there are three shelves on each side, but everything is cleaner and nicer than in SC. Plus, the carriage is equipped with air conditioning. It's a pity that this class is currently only available on Garib Rath Trains. Such carriages could be an excellent alternative for those who do not want to overpay for a compartment, but are afraid of ending up on a dirty shelf. Bedding is not included in the train ticket price.
• 3A (AC three tier)

  

  From the name you can already guess that this class boasts air conditioning. It is also relatively clean and tidy here. For comparison, we will again have to bring our reserved seat carriages, only here there are three soft shelves in the reserved seat compartment and two along the right wall. You will no longer see so-called “hares” in this class. These carriages are perhaps the most popular among European tourists traveling around India. Bedding is already included in the ticket price.
• FC (First class) Now this class is very difficult to find on Indian railways. Only on narrow gauge trains somewhere in the outback. In essence, these are compartment cars with four berths with all the amenities, but without air conditioning.
• 2A (AC-Two tier) This class is a cross between a reserved seat and a compartment carriage. It boasts air conditioning and the fact that the compartments have only two padded shelves on each side. In addition, there are such pleasant little things as reading lamps and sockets for recharging electronic gadgets. The main difference from the compartment is that instead of walls and doors from the corridor, the compartments are separated only by a curtain.
• 1A (First class AC)

  

  And finally, the most expensive and most comfortable way to travel around India is first class. It is not difficult to guess that this is a compartment with four shelves each, with air conditioning, reading lamps, individual sockets, linen, a table, etc. Well maintained European style toilets and clean floor carpets. Trains in India that run between major cities are equipped with such carriages. Despite the high cost, getting tickets for this class is not so easy.

In addition to standard trains with carriages of the listed classes, luxury trains with individual interiors run on Indian Railways. Each train like a ship has its own name, for example: The Golden Chariot, Palace on Wheels, Indian Maharaja, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels and so on. For example, the legendary Maharaja Express train boasts luxurious furnishings made of expensive wood and leather, and luxurious carpets. In addition to the restaurant and bedrooms with double beds and showers, guests are offered rooms for business meetings. The cost of a week's trip on this train across India can reach $20,000

Three years ago I told you about the expedition of Sergei Bolashenko, and in the middle of summer he gave me his new book - this time about the expedition to India, which took place at the beginning of the year 2016.

[...] India is a separate world, to some extent living separately from ours. A country of enormous proportions, not only and not so much in territory, but in population. And at the same time, the civilizational gap with us is smaller than with “hieroglyphic” China. Advantages of traveling in India: first of all, the spirit of discovery. Not the most visited country by foreigners, if we ignore the rare “ostentatious” places. A gigantic and not the most famous railway network. Even about the railways of civilizationally distant China, many times more has been written in Russian than about the railways of India.

To be honest, I personally am not as interested in Indian railways as Chinese or American ones. And India itself also causes a certain wariness: I don’t like hot countries. But it was still interesting to hear first-hand about this phenomenon. Below I have prepared a small selection of photographs from his trip and collected some of the author’s comments (highlighted in the text brown).

Indian railways are some of the most sloppy in the world, and yet carry the highest number of passengers on the planet.

[...] The railway preserves the spirit of freedom and even some anarchy, which remains almost nowhere else in the world. The fare level is perhaps the lowest on the planet. Almost all of India is warm all year round. English has an official status; a significant part of the population speaks it to one degree or another.

Flaws. They exist, and there are many of them. India is an extremely bureaucratic country, and also quite a “police” country. It is prohibited to photograph the railway, metro and administrative buildings here. Any photography of anything other than typical sights is not encouraged here. “Terrorophobia” is developed everywhere. Indian bureaucracy will create many problems. Inability to use cheap hotels - they won’t let you in with a foreign passport. No amount of persuasion will help. It will take half an hour for basic operations - exchanging currency at the bank, arranging for an overnight stay in the rest room at the station. Difficulty in purchasing a telephone SIM card.

The situation with the cleanliness of cities and train stations is not the best. To put it simply, in some places everything is drowning in garbage. Cheap food, but you have to eat exactly that way, it’s prepared and served with dirty hands, which are used to take money. An unaccustomed traveler is almost guaranteed to have stomach problems to a greater or lesser extent. However, the likelihood of contracting serious diseases like malaria or dysentery in India is much lower than in “black” Africa.

The railway is cheap and developed, but traffic on it is almost chaotic. It's difficult to go in the right direction. Unpredictable arrival time. Trains are “clogged” half the time, and you will have to spend many hours standing. However, even the above problems can be positioned as a plus, not a minus! Everything is real here, here you are a true traveler! This is not a banal “walk” through a civilized, orderly, predictable and “watched over” Europe!

As far as I understood from reading the book, Sergei was unable to fully implement the original plan, and he did not travel around the south of the country - he had to be content with the middle part: Delhi - Varanasi - Calcutta - a section of the ocean coast - the middle part with diesel locomotive lines - Bhopal - return to Delhi. Also missing is Bombay. During the trip, he had three (or more) confrontations with the police regarding filming. However, let's look at the selection:

2. Delhi Station is the starting point of the trip.

3. Delhi Railway Station tracks. The trains and tracks look very unpresentable.

4. The locomotives are also not well maintained. Please also note that the glass is protected by bars.

[...] The main method of coupling cars on Indian railways is the Janney automatic coupler. The same method of coupling cars is adopted on the railways of China and the USA. The outdated method of coupling - a screw coupler - has not completely disappeared. Passenger carriages are predominantly screw-tied. The locomotives have coupling devices in the form of a Janney automatic coupler and a screw coupler at the same time.

Sleepers are almost universally reinforced concrete, including in areas with little activity. Steel sleepers from a century ago can be found on narrow gauge lines, but even on them they are rather the exception. As in Russia, there are high landing platforms at large stations and in the suburban areas of the largest cities, low landing platforms in other places. The speed of trains is generally comparable to ours. “Prestigious” fast trains move much faster than others.

5. The beginning of a showdown with the police. In the center of the frame is a policeman (in a protective jacket) who noticed the filming and will now take Sergei to find out.

6. The author traveled only in carriages of lower categories. They are almost all overcrowded: hundreds of millions travel on trains.

[...] I used General Class carriages everywhere. In commuter trains and in the trains of the narrow gauge railways studied, all cars are “simple” and belong to the same category. General Class cars are usually located at the head and tail of each train, except for fast express trains. The layout, as a rule, corresponds to Second Class Sleeper cars. They may be tightly packed - people stand in the aisles and sit (rather than lie) on the upper shelves. But those who managed to lie down on the top bunk are not forced to rise. The side overhead shelves are occupied by luggage.

There are no conductors on “people’s” trains - and not only in General Class carriages, but also in some higher categories. Maintaining cleanliness and order in the carriage, closing the doors if it gets cold is the task of the passengers themselves. “People’s” trains and carriages are so crowded in about half the cases that you can stand in them for hours. The "population" of trains is unpredictable. If it becomes unbearable to travel for many hours in a “barrel of herring”, you can get off, take the next train, and there, surprisingly, the “general” carriages will be almost empty.

High-speed highways parallel to conventional lines, like in China and Western Europe, do not exist in India. In my opinion, it’s very good that they don’t exist! I don’t like this, I think it’s inappropriate and I have a sharply negative attitude towards plans to build similar lines in Russia.

The cost of travel in the lowest class cars: for example, 22 rupees per 100 kilometers, if it is a slow train of the “Ordinary” category and if the trip length is 200 kilometers. On a Mail/Express category train, 30-35 rupees per 100 kilometers, on a Superfast category train, 40-50. Depends on the distance of the trip - the further, the lower the per-kilometer tariff. 10 rupees is approximately 11 Russian rubles. For 1 US dollar you can travel 250-300 kilometers.

There are no turnstiles anywhere on the “regular” railway - there are only in the metro. There are almost no manual platform controls at train stations. Checking tickets inside carriages, at least of low class, is a very rare occurrence. You can probably drive for years and still not see any inspectors. But there are few free riders - Indians are not allowed to be deceived by their mentality, their worldview.

I won’t say that everyone buys tickets. Of course this is not true. But the percentage of free riders is not as high as it would be logical to initially assume, seeing the lack of control and the chaotic situation. Even those who ride on rooftops often have tickets! They ride on rooftops only on a narrow track in rare remote provincial places. Soon there will be no narrow gauge railways in India, except for isolated “attraction” lines, and no riders on rooftops.

7. Timetables outside major centers are often in Hindi and other regional languages ​​without dubbing into English.

9. One of the few stations that looks clean and decent is Moradabad.

10. Water towers in India are completely different from ours.

11. Another specific local problem is monkeys on the tracks. They mostly hang out where there is a lot of garbage (Indians throw it out easily, without ceremony). They are probably "cut" by trains from time to time.

12. The interior of a General Class carriage without the crowd.

13. Sergei’s fellow traveler on this train.

[...] The most correct way to travel on Indian Railways, in my opinion, is to ask for a “general ticket” everywhere. At the box office we say: Please, the cheapest ticket to ..., in general class. You must make sure that the cashier took exactly the amount written on the ticket. Only cash is accepted at the station ticket offices. I didn’t see any machines for buying tickets. There are queues, but not very long.

A high-category ticket for a specific train can be bought online - both on the official website of the railway, which is very often unavailable, and on numerous agent sites, with a surcharge. After paying on the website, you can print out the electronic ticket form yourself, or you can get a paper ticket at the station ticket office using the code.

On some trains this is not required - travel occurs without a ticket, only with an ID card plus a written down digital code that the site will send. The conductor will have a list of passengers. This possibility is indicated as legal, but contradicts the requirement to enter the platform only with a ticket, at least a “platform” ticket. I doubt the usefulness of all this. In all these cases we are talking about buying a ticket for a specific train. Which one will have to wait and which will need to be found.

The cost of a “General Class” ticket will differ depending on the category of trains specified on the ticket for which it is valid: “Mail/Express” or “Ordinary”. Trains of the “Ordinary” category are the slowest, moving with all stops, most often an analogue of our commuter trains over a short distance. By default, long-distance tickets are issued via Mail/Express. But the price is low anyway.

“General class” tickets are unnamed and do not indicate a specific train, only the departure and arrival stations. Is there a limit on the distance, is it possible to take such a ticket, for example, from Delhi to Kanyakumari, the farthest point, has not been clarified. The time limit for validity is indicated on the ticket and is small. I would not recommend taking one ticket for thousands of kilometers. The task of the traveler is to move slowly, with many stops and transfers. The ticket will soon be considered invalid.

The advantage of a “general” ticket over tickets of high categories is not only in price, but also in the fact that there is no connection to the train, carriage and place. It is most important! Any train that has the appropriate carriages is accessible - and there are a lot of them on main lines. Given the almost chaotic movement, as well as the huge scale of stations in big cities and difficult orientation, getting on any particular train is not easy.

Tickets for carriages of a higher category than “general class” are often not available before departure. It is customary to take them in advance. Foreign tourists who are not familiar with local realities may be lied to at the ticket office (especially at a specialized one for foreigners - there are such at the largest train stations) that there are no tickets for today or even for the next few days. Supposedly, you won’t be able to travel from Delhi to Bombay by train, so go by plane or bus. They may remain silent about the existence of a “general class” - the cashiers are either convinced that a foreign tourist will not withstand such conditions, or there are instructions from above to, if possible, keep foreigners away from the carriages of the most “popular” category.

There are long-term “Rail Passes” for foreign tourists, allowing unlimited movement for a certain time in carriages of different classes, depending on the price. In my opinion, there is no point in them. Purchasing individual “general class” tickets will be cheaper, and ticket inspectors in provincial areas may not be aware of the existence of “passes.”

There are luxury tourist trains for foreign rich people: "Maharajas" Express, "Palace on Wheels" and others. The fare is tens of thousands of dollars. They have no significance for the traveler.

14. Fell along the paths for burning vegetation.

15. Locality in Central India.

16. Electric train.

17. Car with a route sign. The windows in the carriages are always covered with protection to prevent them from climbing in.

18. Bridge over the Ganges River.

19. Kanpur. Monkeys also come to the stations - there is always a lot of food waste there.

20. Kanpur railway station.

21. Kanpur. At night the station is also very busy, trains run around the clock.

22. There are also locomotives-monuments there, just like ours. Art. Allahabad.

23. Again the railway bridge across the great Ganges. This is already in the Varanasi area - where corpses are burned on the shore.

24. Sergei reached Calcutta, passed the legendary Calcutta tram - there are many photographs about it in the book. Now it is called Kolkata.

25. And this is the famous “secret” Howrah bridge, where all travelers who take the bridge are tyrannized. I don't remember exactly, but it seems puerrtto scouted this bridge and had some kind of conflict with the police at the bridge. Or maybe I just got confused, he took it off without any problems.

26. Kolkata main station.

27. Cow on the platform, art. Kharagpur. You can't touch a cow - she's a sacred animal there.

28. Another showdown with the police. A lot of spectators gather at the attraction - they are watching how the white Mr. will now be interrogated.

29. Regarding the legendary ride on rooftops. Sergei found this only in a remote area with diesel locomotive traffic.

Here's what he writes about this:

[...] The last country with railway anarchy, in my opinion, remains India (plus its separatist piece Bengal-Bangladesh). But the situation there is changing too. “Roof Riders” remained only on remote lines. The famous pictures with a train surrounded on all sides by a crowd are from Bangladesh, not India. But even for Bangladesh, this is not their everyday life. This only happens during the peak days of Islamic holidays and only in a small area.

30. More photos with passengers on the roofs.

31. And one more thing. Sabalgarh station.

[...] In terms of traffic safety, the railways are not at the best level. Often, compared to developed countries, crashes and disasters occur with a large number of victims. Reports of another train accident in India, with dozens of deaths, are commonplace. However, the railway is much safer than road transport.

Relations between “central” India and its breakaway regions of Pakistan and Bangladesh are unfriendly. Most of the railway lines across the “inter-Indian” borders have been dismantled. The borders are surrounded by barbed wire and mined. But there is minimal passenger traffic from India to Pakistan and Bangladesh.

32. The train travels through a mountainous region in the depths of Hindustan.

33. Sergei Bolashenko in the vestibule of an Indian train.

34. This is how a two-week train trip took place - from January 21 to February 5, 2016.

* * *
Well, a couple of months ago we met in St. Petersburg and talked about railway topics.

35. Author of the blog and Sergey Bolashenko July 29, 2017 Station "Yuny" of the Malaya Oktyabrskaya railway.

36. Sergei’s book about the Indian expedition.

Indian notes of S. Bolashenko are available in full size and online.

But we have not yet said a word about almost the most important and popular form of transport - trains. I think with a high degree of probability we can say that in our area there has long been a stereotype that the average Indian train necessarily looks like a densely stuffed sausage. In principle, this is not surprising, given that India is second only to China in population, and the Indian railway is one of the longest in the world (about 7 thousand stations on more than 60 thousand km of tracks). By the way, the state-owned Indian Railways transports on average about 30 million passengers and 2.5 million tons of cargo per day (about a billion tons per year).

In theory, an Indian train should look something like this:

In fact, such exotica does not occur often in India, or rather, it practically does not occur, except on the days of some major holidays, when demand significantly exceeds supply.

In real life it looks something like this:

And landing at such peak hours is an even more interesting process. In order to have time to take at least some place in the carriage and not risk their lives on the roof or in the doorway, people enter and jump into the carriages before the train stops:

To our great regret, we never saw anything like this, and our trips on Indian trains were exclusively cultural, refined and therefore boring.

Alleppey railway station. There is always a clock on each platform; waiting areas for first, sleeper and other classes are separated, in the best traditions of segregation.

The town, by Indian standards, is small, so there are relatively few people here.

If you feel hungry on the road, numerous food outlets and friendly food vendors will help you cope with it. So, after drinking tea, we got into a conversation with one of the sellers, who explained to us some of the intricacies of using IZD.

It turned out that we bought a ticket for a general carriage (without class) and we don’t have to wait for a specific train, but board any one, the main thing is that the direction suits us.

Indian conductors, unlike ours, are very hospitable people and do not close the doors after the train starts moving, so if you are a little late, you don’t need to shout or show the stop valve with your hands, just jump into the nearest door. Actually, that’s what we did, catching up with our first train.

Kollam (our destination) was not that far away, so we decided to go extreme and bought the cheapest ticket. But, unfortunately, this time there was no trial, having intercepted us on approach to the general carriage, caring Indians tried in every possible way to intimidate us with an overabundance of “exotics”, simultaneously dragging us towards more expensive carriages. Even the conductor thought that it was quite dangerous for gentle white gentlemen to travel in a general carriage and, after checking the ticket, he simply smiled.

This is what a ticket for a general carriage looks like - no seat, no time of departure of the train; on the day you buy the ticket, you can board any train in the desired direction.

It turned out that we were in a sleeping (so-called sleeper class) non-air-conditioned carriage:

In principle, it resembles our reserved seat, only on the third shelf instead of things there are additional neighbors:

There are bars on the windows, and fans instead of air conditioners.

Our next opportunity to ride a train was in the city of Tuticorin. The screen at the station started working immediately after the train arrived:

The staff is very friendly, as is the case all over India, but unfortunately their English is poor, so practice your acting skills.

This time we immediately bought the most expensive ticket. This is first class with air conditioning. It looks like this:

Comparison with a general carriage ticket:

Rich people are not very free to manage their own time, so the ticket clearly indicates the departure date and train number. The time is not indicated on the ticket; you will have to find it out yourself when purchasing a ticket or look it up in a directory (by train number).

While the train is parked, a special employee pastes sheets of names on the cars; you will need to find yours and remember the “generated” seat number.

The seat is “generated” based on the gender and age data of all passengers traveling in this class.

When purchasing a ticket, you can, of course, indicate that you want a lower berth or choose a compartment if you are traveling with a group. But no one will be interested in this, because a respectable Indian who compiles lists will never allow an unmarried young girl to travel in the company of young guys and vice versa. When purchasing a ticket, you fill out a form in which you must indicate everything - gender, age, sexual preferences, etc. This is what the coupe team lineups look like:

First class is no different from our compartment cars, except that there are more different toggle switches/switches and the air conditioning is more powerful.

The bed is always made by the conductor.

First class is a great place to meet cool Indian businessmen. One advanced Indian told us that this is far from the best option for the money spent. It's hard to imagine what could be better on an Indian train, although it could be some kind of business carriage or ultra-first class.

This is what a first-class toilet looks like, legends whisper that it’s no worse in other classes:

From the windows of Indian trains you can see real, beautiful India:

To summarize this article and make it at least somewhat useful for travelers, we have collected some useful information and tried to structure it.

Consider the classes of cars and their differences:

Classless general carriage / Second Sitting, General Class (Code: 2S)- the cheapest, rather dangerous and least comfortable way to travel by Indian trains. The tickets do not have the train number or departure time stamped on them; you can leave on any train you choose. You can place your bodies mainly on wooden shelves, 3 in a compartment and 2 on the side; either a very lucky person or a very strong person can find a free place. If you manage to take the top seats, you can spend time in relative solitude, but at the bottom you will have to sleep in an embrace with other neighbors.

Approximate cost of travel: 1 dollar per 500 km.

Sleeping car / Sleeper Class (Code: SL)- very similar to our reserved seat, but the compartment has not four, but six shelves (three tiers). You will be able to take a horizontal position only if you have managed to nest on the upper shelves; you will have to take your luggage with you. Quite a lot of not so nimble people are seated below. The middle shelves are detached only at night. Linen is not provided. A large number of beggars. There are no air conditioners, only fans. Windows without glass, with bars.

Approximate cost of travel: $5 per 1000 km.

Third class with air conditioning / AC 3 Tier (Code: 3A)— almost the same sleeping room, six shelves in the compartment (three tiers) and two on the side. Tightly sealed windows and constantly running air conditioning. The conductor is responsible for face control, so there is always room here. Sellers of everything under the sun and compartment cleaners begging for small coins for their labor do not count. Free linen, a blanket is required, due to the constantly running air conditioning it is quite cool here.

Approximate cost of travel: $10 per 1000 km.

Second class with air conditioning / AC 2 Tier (Code: 2A)— has a higher price, four shelves in a compartment (two tiers), almost complete similarity with our reserved seat. All compartments are separated from the passage by long curtains.

Approximate cost of travel: $20 per 1000 km.

First class Air-Conditioned (Code: 1A)— an analogue of our coupe, but with air conditioning. One of the most expensive options. This type of carriage is not included on all trains, as a rule, only on long-distance trains.

Approximate cost of travel: $30 per 1000 km.

If you were unable to buy a train ticket, you can use a service such as “wait list”.

According to the waitlist, tickets are sold without a pre-designated seat or even a carriage number, but they give you the right to travel in the appropriate train and class (depending on the cost of the ticket) to a specific destination. Already in the carriage, you can try to find a seat for yourself, for free or for a small tip to the conductor.

And finally, where can you buy tickets online?

Official website of Indian Railways:

Two more sites for purchasing tickets:

If possible, we recommend purchasing tickets directly at the box office. If you buy a ticket via the Internet, then it is better to change it to a paper version as quickly as possible, otherwise, “thanks to” Indian carelessness, you may end up on the whitelist.

! For 365 days, multi!
For citizens of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, the full cost with all fees = 8200 rub..
For citizens of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia = 6900 rub.

Trains in India have one constant feature - they are always late. This must be taken into account. Especially if you have a plane connection, allow an extra few hours for it.
It’s also a good idea to take these points into account. Indians love to turn on air conditioners and fans at full power, always and everywhere - in train cars, buses, hotels. This craving for cold sometimes goes beyond all reasonable limits - they sit wrapped in scarves, cough, sneeze, but the power does not decrease. They like it that way 🙂 That’s why our people often take tape with them on the train - ordinary wide tape to cover the air conditioner, especially if you got a ticket to the top bunk. And don’t forget a woolen hat, even if you are traveling to the south of India, but there are air-conditioned carriages waiting for you along the route. And if you plan to travel in a sleeper car (SL), then a sleeping bag will not hurt, because... there will either be no glass (and no real refrigerator at night), or the fans will work at full power. And during the day you can go out to the stations to warm up :)

Read also:

Background information about car classes and other features of the Indian Railways

About the old English narrow gauge railway in northern India

The doors of the carriages are not locked while moving, and you can stand in the vestibule in front of the open door the whole way.

How we ran after the train

At the Hospet railway station, everything is very simple: all passenger trains arrive on the first track, freight trains stand on the others. Along the entire platform there are electronic boards on which the train number and the car number light up. Our waiting chairs are right here on the platform. And they announce a hundred times which train is arriving. It couldn’t be simpler, it’s impossible to miss your train.
Ours is No. 7603, from Calcutta. SL car No. 10. We listen to what trains are announced and look at the board. Ours isn't here, he's late. We are waiting further. He's already two hours late. Some express arrived, but not from Calcutta at all, and - most importantly - the number was completely different. Not ours again. We are waiting further. We still have to ask when ours will be. But I must say that there are no conductors in each car, like we have. Here stands some respectable guy, and dull-witted passengers poke their tickets at him, and he waves his hand - showing where their carriage is. We approach it with our ticket (we have one ticket for 2 people). He looked and waved his hand somewhere back, to where the trains come from.
- What, our train will be next?
- This train. This is your train, the 10th car at the end of the train.
We show him the ticket again. The number is different!
- This train.

Not understanding anything, we ran to the tail of the train, where he waved his hand. They passed one carriage, another, a third... Nadyukha shouted: “We can’t be there! These are general, and then luggage.” And suddenly he started moving.
- Nadyushka, jump!
- This is not our carriage!
- Jump faster! Who cares!
She jumped, I followed her, grabbed the inside handrail with my hand, it picked up speed, I almost dislocated my arm. Thank God we jumped at least somewhere in time! It turned out to be a general carriage for ladies. Consists of only two compartments with a vestibule. Some women and two boys looked at us, smiled, and saw us jumping up and down as we walked. We stand with our backpacks like fools, we don’t know what to do next. But I must say that there is no communication between the carriages here; you cannot get to your carriage by train. Just in case, I pulled some kind of door, it turned out to be a toilet. That's it, there are no more doors. Well, then, let's go here to the nearest station.
The women are so pleasant, in bright, beautiful saris, with many bright bracelets, they smile at us, move over, and free up space. I was even glad that we were brought here. I started taking pictures of everyone. They, as always, laugh joyfully when they see the result on the screen. Middle-aged Indian women are a miracle, always so friendly, smiling, in their colorful saris. Your mouth naturally blurs when you communicate with them.
We smiled at each other, took pictures: earrings, bracelets, mehendi - patterns on the hands.

I really enjoyed traveling with them, I would have continued traveling here, but I bought a ticket for a sleeper car with the expectation that I would be able to lie down. So, at the next station we’ll run to look for our carriage. We arranged a meeting: we showed these kind women our ticket and asked where our 10 SL might be. They consulted and decided that he couldn’t be at the back of the train, he had to run to the head. Nadyushka was delighted: “Yes, we rushed to the wrong place. The guy on the platform told us wrong.” Well, the guy was too personable, and he waved his hand too confidently. Maybe our car is some kind of trailer? After all, the train is not from Calcutta. And the train number is not ours at all...
Okay, let's go to the head. I didn’t really care where to go, I would have looked at all the carriages with pleasure, after all, it was my first acquaintance with an Indian train. And it’s generally great with these women.
— How many minutes does the train wait at the next station?
- Three minutes.
Wow! You'll have to run very quickly.
In 3 minutes we managed to reach the 5th SL car. They jumped on the move again, and it was already clear that the 10th was not in their heads.
The next station was a large one - the city of Hubli, parking for 15 minutes. Well, in 15 minutes we managed to reach our 10 SL. He ended up at the back of the train, just as that respectable guy in Hospet told us. Our seats turned out to be occupied; two student girls from Hyderabad were traveling in them. We went on vacation to Goa by the sea. There was a dispute with tickets. The woman on the top shelf also became worried when we began to put our backpacks down: “This place is occupied, my husband is coming here.” We had to show our ticket to this woman, then to my husband, then to the ticket inspector.
In general, more tickets were sold than actual seats. So we still didn’t manage to lie down, but we managed to run with our backpacks behind the train, jump on the move and sit in different cars. 🙂 But I even had fun with this story. Especially in the very first one - a cheap women's carriage. There are slightly different women in the sleeper car. They don't wear bright saris made from cheap artificial fabrics, they don't wear 20 shiny bangles on each hand, their jewelry is more stylish, they wear Punjabi, and the girls - their daughters - wear shorts and T-shirts. Their husbands are riding next to them. But their smiles are just as joyful and white-toothed.

Much later, it became clear why the train had the wrong number and the wrong departure station. It turns out that in India there are such mysterious trains - with two numbers. More precisely, these are two different trains that depart from two different stations A and B, each with its own number, and at some mythical station C they are combined into one. One of the numbers (in this case, ours) is discarded. So we could sit and wait for a long time for the non-existent train No. 7603 from Kolkata :)

About the general class of the Indian train

From Gwalior we had to get to Datia. The road is not long, so it didn’t matter to us which car we were going in – a seated car, a lying-down car, or something else. We came to the ticket office at the train station.
-There are no tickets.
-What, not at all?
-No tickets. There is only general class. Will you take it?
- Of course we will, what's the difference!
We, naive ones, didn’t know yet what a general class was :)
We bought tickets and, while waiting for the train, sat down on some large soft bales piled on the platform exactly opposite armed men in uniform.

If you are afraid of missing your train, or don’t know which platform it will go to, or if you just want to practice your English, or if you have a high level of anxiety, or some other problem, then the surest way is to come with your ticket either to such a person in uniform, or to fall into the office of some station worker with a wide smile, where they will patiently explain everything to you - how late your train is, when it is expected, on which track it is arriving, and where your car will stop.

That’s what we did - we turned with our tickets to these armed men in uniform.
“Wait here,” they said, and we happily relaxed on these bales.

...Time passed, trains came and went, armed people went about their business and seemed to have forgotten about us. We approached them again.
- Don't worry, ma'am, your train is late. We'll tell you.

We sat on these bales for a long time...
But finally they waved their hands at us, we jumped up, grabbed our things, and,
accompanied by a man in uniform, we reached the place where our general-class carriage was supposed to stop.
There were a suspiciously large number of people there and a lot of all sorts of bales, bags, baskets... We suspected something was wrong.
But in the depths of my soul there was still a glimmer of hope that maybe these people were not all in our carriage... maybe they would somehow dissolve... maybe they needed some other train... in the end, maybe they were just here for a walk came...

And then he appeared. And all these people (all!) moved, stirred, picked up their bales, bags, baskets and rushed to our general class carriage. At first we also rushed to him. But when he came closer... we were horrified to see that it was already full!!
-I won’t go there with things! – my friend shouts.
-I won’t go there even without things! - I shout.
We are at a loss - what to do? The next train is not soon...
And suddenly a painfully familiar man in uniform appeared in this crowd. He looked at us, understood everything, with a gesture he pulled us out of the crowd, with a gesture he ordered us to follow him. We, dumbfounded, obediently followed him with our things along the train. He took us to the SL carriage and led us into the carriage. And there were quite a few people here too, there were no empty seats, people were even sitting on the floor in the aisles. In the nearest compartment, he motioned for the people sitting on the bunk to move, and we somehow miraculously fit in – sitting! - in this compartment, they squeezed their things between someone’s trunks, and before they had time to thank their savior, he disappeared and the train started moving...

Traveling by train in India provides you with much greater comfort than traveling by bus, especially over long distances. Some of India's big cities have extensive suburban rail networks, which offer great opportunities for travellers. It should be remembered that during peak hours, Indian trains are usually overcrowded with passengers.

Some seats on most long-distance trains are reserved for foreign tourists. Tickets can be purchased at special departments or ticket offices located in the main cities and tourist centers of the country (if you intend to pay for the ticket in rupees, you should have a receipt from an exchange office or an ATM printout).

Many stations have inexpensive luggage storage facilities with a daily fee.
During the holidays, as well as with an increase in passenger traffic at the peak of the tourist season, additional trains are introduced on some routes. You should be especially careful at this time, because... There have been cases of death and injury of passengers in crushes on crowded station platforms.

If you intend to travel a lot by train, we recommend purchasing at any major station the information booklet “Trains at a Glance”, which contains, among other things, the schedule of all trains for the region.
Official website of Indian Railways: http://www.indianrai... and https://www.irctc.co.in
Indian train schedule between the main stations can be viewed via the link (links are constantly changing!) on the sites http://www.indianrai... and http://enquiry.india..., intermediate stations can also be viewed there.

Indian train classes

The fastest and most expensive trains in India are the Shatabdi Exp., which travel between the main cities of the country within one day. There are only two classes on these trains: AC chair and AC executive chair. “Shatabdis” are comfortable, but the double-glazed windows of the carriages impair visibility, so in this regard, express trains are inferior to the usual unconditioned carriages of slower trains, in the windows of which you will see bars instead of glass.
Rajdhani Exp. provides connections between and state capitals and has the following classes:

- “first air-conditioned” (AC 1st class, 1AC) - this is an analogue of our SV, a two-seater compartment with a closing door, with wide seats, a wardrobe, a mirror and even a washbasin. The cost of this class is not much different from the cost of a plane ticket.
- “two-shelf air-conditioned” (two-tier AC, 2AC). “Double-shelf” means that each compartment of the car has two tiers of shelves + side seats, that is, a total of 6 seats, separated by curtains. This compartment is a little larger, and the shelves are a little longer than in the “three-shelf” classroom.
- “three-shelf air-conditioned” (three-tier AC, 3AC) - 8 seats, no curtains;
- “second class” (2nd class).
The cost of a ticket in “two-shelf” and “three-shelf” classes is, respectively, approximately half and a third of the cost of a ticket in first class. Both classes are suitable for long journeys.

Other express and mail trains typically have 2AC class, chair car, non-AC sleeper (bring your own bed linen), and non-AC 2nd class. . The cost of a ticket in an “unair-conditioned sleeping” carriage is approximately a quarter of the cost of a “double-berth” carriage.

An air-conditioned AC car on a train (regardless of its name) requires the presence of a conductor, bed linen and blankets, comparative cleanliness, the absence of strangers (or beggars) in the car and, naturally, pleasant coolness or real cold, so the upper shelves in 3AC, located directly under air conditioning, it is not recommended to take it.

The advantage of AC class is that you are assigned a seat that you can use for the entire trip. On unair-conditioned trains, the seats are indicated nominally; in addition, you can take your entire seat only at night; during the daytime, 1-2-3 more uninvited people who bought a ticket without a seat can sit on it.

Passenger class trains, traveling over short distances, are an analogue of our electric trains; depending on the state and direction, the type of trains ranges from cars with benches, doors on rails (like a heated train) and propellers on the ceiling to compartments for 8 people. In turn, such a compartment can have both wooden benches and shelves for luggage, as well as soft seats, and there can be different types of carriages even in 1 train. The seats on such trains are also numbered, but conditionally, the principle “whoever has time, gets on” applies here.

A big advantage of Indian trains is the presence of a toilet (except for hot-water carriages); carriages have 2 toilets at the beginning and at the end. AC class carriages usually have 1 Indian toilet and 1 European toilet on each side.

Staff at large railway stations usually speak English. At small stations, English is usually spoken by senior employees.

Railway ticket prices in India

Tariffs are calculated depending on the distance. Full information about tariffs can be found on the Indian Railways website (see above) or in the brochure “Trains in a Nutshell”. As a rule, if you are traveling more than 500 km, you can make one stopover (for no more than two days); in this case, you need to mark your ticket with the station master or ticket collector at the station where you decide to stay.
Bedding in class 1AC (and often in class 3AC) is provided free of charge. In non-air-conditioned first class they cost 20 rupees. Free meals are provided on Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, and cheap meals are available on other long-distance trains.
Tickets can be returned for a refund (no later than 12 hours after train departure). If we returned the ticket 2 hours before departure, we were refunded 50% of it. There are no refunds for lost tickets.
There is for elderly passengers (30% for people over 60 years old).

Indian railway stations
Large stations always have them, sometimes even quite decent ones. In such resticons they sell branded ones, packaged specifically for railways, it is recommended to buy it. In addition, at all stations there are stalls and mobile food stalls on the platforms, where you can buy bananas, cookies and water in addition to the thali.

The main stations have "rest rooms". " Rest rooms railway stations will be available to you if you have a ticket or Indrail Pass. The quality of the rooms can range from very poor to surprisingly good and often depends on the class of carriage you have (AC or not). A good option if you have to board an early train. However, rest rooms at main stations can be noisy. There are both shared bedrooms (dormitories) and private rooms” - “Lonely Planet”, p.1031.
Achadidi tried several times to move into such a lounge, but there was never room.

All railway stations have luggage storage, which usually work from early morning until late evening, do not forget to check the opening hours on the board at the entrance to the storage room. The cost of 1 piece of luggage per day is about 10-15 rupees, depending on the storage period. It is better to hand over things to the storage room in a locked form or packed in a plastic bag, since otherwise their safety is not guaranteed.

All stations have waiting rooms, and at large stations they are different for AC passengers and everyone else. Non-AC waiting rooms have propellers, but the toilet is often paid for; for AC passengers there is a free toilet, shower, often air conditioning and soft seats where you can even sleep.

Buying a train ticket in India

Tickets for personalized express trains can be purchased at reservation offices, and for passenger trains at the station ticket office. If an express ticket can be purchased for any day, then a local train ticket can only be purchased on the day of departure. All railway stations in India have a reservation system, almost all reservation offices, major cities also have tourism offices.
For an express ticket in India, you need to fill out a form indicating the name of the train, its number and the class you require. For a long-distance trip, it is best to buy a ticket in advance - at least a couple of days before departure. If the station does not have a special ticket office for foreign tourists, you will have to stand in line with local residents. There are often separate ticket counters (and queues) for men and women, for example “for women traveling alone.”.
If you don’t want to stand in line, you can contact one of the travel agencies, which will provide you with a ticket for a small commission. At the same time, you should be wary of cunning travel agents who may try to sell you a postal train ticket at the price of an express train. Do not leave the agent with full payment in advance and review the ticket carefully before finalizing the payment.
The ticket clearly indicates the seat and carriage numbers. In addition, a list of passengers with seat information can be posted at the entrance to the carriage. The carriage number is often written in chalk next to the list.
If there are no seats on the train you need, you can ask the cashier to put you on the waiting list. Another solution is to buy a ticket to a non-reserved class and try to upgrade “in flight”. To do this, you need to go into a good class carriage and find the conductor (or TTE, Traveling Ticket Examiner). If you are lucky, they will credit you with the cost of the already purchased ticket and charge you the difference and a small fee of about 30 rupees.

Please also note that having bought a train ticket, if there are seats in a better class carriage, you can “move in” to it with the help of a conductor by paying the difference in price.

Train Passes

Allows you to travel on Indian railways without restrictions during the validity period. They are expensive and do not give you any privileges compared to other passengers. To fully justify the purchase, you will have to drive 300 km every day. Sold by travel agencies in many countries and also in all major cities of India.
from 5 to 12 years old travel on Indian railways at half price.”