Indian Railways

The Indian railways is one of the oldest and largest rail networks in the world. It spans the length and breadth of the country connecting almost every big and small city and town you can think of. Rail travel in India can be a fun filled way of exploring the country.

The experience inside a second class train compartment - and we strongly recommend second class rail travel for tourists - is varied, exciting and enriching when compared to the often drab and boring confines of an airplane. Whenever you have to travel relatively short distances (like Bombay to Goa or Bangalore to kerala), please do use trains. You’ll love the experience.

A combination of rail and air journeys is the way to go. For very short journeys, you may also use state government luxury buses. For some destinations, a bus may be the only available option.

Always book your tickets a few days in advance, and check if you’re given a confirmed ticket. If not it needs to be confirmed before you can board the train. You can do that one day in advance.

I must confess here that the system is not very clean, and ticket collectors sometimes help you confirm your tickets (in case you’re not able to) just before departure for a small “fee”. Nobody knows how they do it, and nobody ever bothers to ask. Never approach touts on the platform. It’ll cost you a lot more. Ticket collectors in India wear a white uniform with black coats and are easily recognizable.

That said, ticket collectors or TC’s as they are commonly referred to can be very helpful and assist you if porters and touts pester you. They board the train with you to check passenger’s tickets and are actually a friendly lot. Most are very talkative and passionate about the railways and can provide you with a lot of information if you care to ask.

You can book any rail journey to any place in India from any railway station that services outstation trains and there is one in every city and small town. And yes most of the time you will be given a confirmed ticket. 

You can book your journey online from anywhere in India or abroad, either yourself or through a travel agent, but doing it across the counter is a lot more interactive and offers more flexibility.

For online booking please visit - http://www.irctc.co.in

Almost all railway platforms in India have small shops that stock everything you’ll need for your journey from tea/ coffee/ juices to branded potato crisps and bottled water. Do buy light snacks that will keep you busy during your journey and don’t forget drinking water. Always carry a high beam torch and spare batteries when you travel. It can be very useful.

All long distance trains in India have pantry cars that sell tea/ coffee/snacks/packed lunch and dinner. Egg biryani or egg pulao is as far as they go in non vegan food. No meat/ poultry/ fish etc is served on any train. That in any case is good while traveling, and shouldn't be an issue.

The pantry service is licensed by the Indian railways to private caterers and quality and hygiene has sometimes been an issue . Uniformed pantry staffs come to you selling the appropriate food item for that time of the day, and take orders for meals. Tea/ coffee are served at regular intervals and food is reasonably priced.

And yes, do interact with fellow travelers. They know more about your destination than you do. If you’re smart enough, you can learn from them.

Always carry enough small change when you travel. Trains stop at some stations along the way for less than five minutes, and vendors immediately hop in selling their wares. If you buy something for rs.10 and pay rs.100, he would simply pretend he has no change and play for time knowing the train will move anytime. When it does, he simply jumps out and with him the rs.90 he owed you. This is a common ruse used by vendors in trains. Didn’t we tell you that rail journeys can be a colorful and enriching experience?

Don’t ever buy any items of food from these vendors in trains unless its groundnuts, which should be fine.

Smoking on railway platforms and trains all over India is prohibited. Remember that most trains in India don’t have doors that shut automatically once you’re inside, unless it’s the metro which are local trains anyway.Most of the time the doors are wide open and Indian railways seem to think that closing the doors is the passenger’s responsibility. And to be fair, unless you have suicidal tendencies it isn't really an issue. 

Just one last thing - rail travel in India is cheap and exciting. Use the cash you save to pamper yourself. How about a meal in a five star hotel or treating yourself to a wonderful spa experience or both?

And if you've seen pictures of crowded Indian trains with passengers traveling on the roof, those are local trains during peak hours. Many of them travel without tickets too. We've told you elsewhere in this blog that many western standards may not even be practical here.

As you go back to your own country, you may fall in love with India or simply hate it, but this is one country you’ll always want to come back to, because of that eerie feeling that you've left a part of you behind.