Rail travel in India

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This article is a travel topic.

Although distances in India are long and Indian trains aren't the world's best, travelling in these add a fascinating new dimension to a visitor's experience in the country. There is virtually no better way to get to make friends with the people and see the spectacular views of the diverse Indian countryside.

IR is the third largest rail network in the world, and the third most dense network as well. Tracks running well over a 100,000 kilometers help connect about 7500 stations, ferrying nearly 20 million people every day.

Indian Railways is famously the world's largest employer with over a million employees, and at first sight it also looks like the world's largest bureaucracy, with hair-splitting divisions and designations that look quite obscure to the uninitiated. The following will help you crack the code.

A South Eastern Railway train passes through lush green fields

[edit] Zones

The IR is divided into 17 zones, each headquartered in a major city station.

• Central Railway [1] headquartered in Mumbai CST, Maharashtra
• Eastern Railway [2] headquartered in Howrah, West Bengal
• East Central Railway headquartered in Hajipur, Bihar
• East Coast Railway headquartered in Bhubhaneshwar, Orissa
• Konkan Railway [3] headquartered in Belapur, Maharashtra
• Northern Railway [4] headquartered in New Delhi, Delhi
• Northeast Frontier Railway headquartered in Guwahati, Assam
• North Eastern Railway headquartered in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh
• North Central Railway headquartered in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
• North Western Railway [5] headquartered in Jaipur, Rajasthan
• Southern Railway [6] headquartered in Chennai Central, Tamil Nadu
• South Central Railway [7] headquartered in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh
• South Eastern Railway [8] headquartered in Sealdah, West Bengal
• South East Central Railway headquartered in Bilaspur, Bihar
• South Western Railway headquartered in Hubli, Karnataka
• Western Railway [9] headquartered in Mumbai Churchgate, Maharashtra
• West Central Railway [10] headquartered in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

Each train in IR's fleet is run by a zone. Intra-zonal trains are run by the zone in which they run in, while Inter-zonal trains are run by one of the terminating zones. The first digit in train numbers refer to the zones, with the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Jana Shatabdi trains being the only exceptions.

Although the Kolkata Metro is given the status of a zonal railway, it is not considered an IR zone for practical purposes.

A schematic map of India's rail network, color-coded by gauge

[edit] Hierarchy of trains

All trains in India are either super-fast, express/mail, suburban or luxury tourist trains. Tourist trains are not included in this list.

1. Rajdhani Express
2. Shatabdi Express
3. Jana Shatabdi Express
4. Sampark Kranti Express
5. Super-fast express trains
6. Mail trains
7. Express trains
8. Fast Passenger trains
9. Passenger trains

[edit] Fares

Despite the numerous types of trains and classes, the fare system is quite logical.

• Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Jana Shatabdi trains have fixed point-to-point fares. The fare one-way may be slightly more or less than the reverse-fare, due to different catering charges.
• Super-fast trains are charged the same base fare as other mail/express trains, but a super-fast surcharge is added to it.
• Express and mail trains have standardized fares based on the distance travelled.
• Fast-passenger trains as well as Passenger trains are extremely cheap. The fare is the same for both.

Credit cards are accepted at most important stations. Note that in smaller stations, only Visa will be accepted. However, stations in the metros and other important cities accept Mastercard, AmEx and Diners Card as well. There are generally 1 to 3 counters where credit card payment is allowed, depending on the station.

[edit] IndRail Pass

The IndRail Pass is valid for all visitors. It is a pass which allows unlimited travel on all of IR's trains except

• Konkan Railway
• Kolkata Metro
• Suburban Trains
• Hill Railways
• Luxury Tourist Trains
• MRTS Chennai

IndRail passes automatically expire 1 year from the date of issue. However, prior reservations are necessary. The IndRail Pass is generally not good value for money if you are staying for a month or more. However, if you choose to travel in Executive Chair Car for 2 or 3 journeys over a couple of days, it is indeed worth purchasing.

IndRail passes are available for sale in railway offices at the following stations - Agra City, Agra Cantt, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bangalore City, Howrah, Chandigarh, Chennai Central, Gorakhpur, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai Central, Mumbai CST, Mumbai Churchgate, New Delhi, Puttapurthi Town, Rameswaram, Secundarabad, Trivandrum Central, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vasco da Gama and Vijaywada. General Sales Agents are authorised to sell the IndRail pass at a 3-5% surcharge in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangkok, Dhaka, Durban, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Kuala Lumpur, London, Muscat, New York, Paris, Port Louis, Sharjah, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

• A month refers to 30 continuous days
• Discounts for children below 13 are available
  • For the 1/2/3 months pass, the rate for children is half of the adult fare rounded up to the nearest 5 dollars.
  • For all other passes, the discount is 50% rounded off to the nearest 1 dollar.
• Fares have to be paid in US $ or Indian Rs. However, the dollar rate is fixed and the Rupee rate changes according to the exchange rate.

[edit] Classes

[edit] Long-distance

• AC First is the most expensive class. The service is excellent,and the toilets are much cleaner than any other toilets you get to see on Indian trains. Other amenities include curtained sliding doors and wall-to-wall carpeting.
• AC 2 Tier is a long way off the AC First Class, but is none-the- less quite comfortable. Food is not free except in the Rajdhanis. The toilets are tolerable.
• AC 3 Tier is very similar to 2 Tier, the significant difference being the additional middle-bunk. This can make it uncomfortable to sit up staight during the morning if the person in the middle-bunk is a heavy sleeper! The same norms as above apply for catering services.
• First Class is similar to AC 2 Tier, but with no AC. The carpets are often in desperate need of cleaning.
• Sleeper Class is cheap but just about tolerable. During the hot summer months, travelling in AC classes and avoiding this one is recommended.

[edit] Short-distance

• Executive Chair Car is only available on the Shatabdis. It is extremelely comfortable, and is the preferred class for businessmen.
• AC Chair Car is also quite decent, but the seats are not particualrly wide.
• Second Class is basically a Chair Car compartment, without the AC. Contrary to popular belief, the seats are padded and not wooden.

[edit] Unreserved

• General compartments have uncomfortable wooden bunks and are never to be used, even in extreme cases. The scene inside one of these compartments usually resembles a Guiness World Record attempt of getting the maximum people to squash into a particular space.

[edit] Ticketing

Tickets are available from travel agents as well as directly from Indian Railways' online reservation service. It is better not to buy tickets from a travel agent, as they mark up the price, and with the advent of internet booking, offer no real advantage. Train tickets are in high demand, especially during the summer and winter breaks. This means that without careful planning, it may be next to impossible to get tickets for long distance travel (for example from New Delhi to Mumbai). You can book up to 90 days in advance, but during the busy season, the tickets may get sold out quickly. However foreigners can get tickets from a quota reserved for them. In big cities, you have a specific counter or even a special office for them. If you plan to travel in 1st Class A/C tickets should be easier to get - they are in less demand.

If you do not get a confirmed ticket, you may get one that is Waitlisted (WL) or in the Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) status. If you've booked your ticket in advance, it will probably move from "Waitlisted" to "RAC" status or even to "Reserved" status as time goes by, because of cancellations, so it is a good idea to check it periodically and keep your plans dynamic.

You cannot get on to a reserved compartment if your ticket is waitlisted (you can only enter a General Compartment). But if you have an RAC ticket, you are allotted 'sitting' berths - i.e. in a Sleeper Coach, you and a fellow RAC ticket-holder share a berth so that both of you can travel sitting instead of sleeping. The Ticket Examiner then allots you a Confirmed (CNF) sleeping berth as and when one is available due to last minute cancellations, no-shows etc. Depending on the train, the route and the season you are travelling in, the RAC ticket may get upgraded to CNF either as soon as the journey begins, mid-way through the journey or not at all.

Five days before the departure date of a train the Taktal quota seats become available. This allows tourists who like to plan a trip closer to the day of departure, for an extra fee. Some agents don't advertise these tickets, so you may have to ask. Even with this extra quota (about 4% of the seats on a train) it can sometimes be difficult to get the train you want when you want it.

Even if you have an IndRail pass, reservations are compulsory.

[edit] Schedules

Before booking a ticket pick up a copy of Trains At A Glance, the national rail timetable, from any railway station. This is updated every June and remains valid until July next year. It allows you to choose the best train for your needs, and find the name and number of the train for your destination. However, this is a general guide and does not contain detailed list of all stations, neither does it contain all the trains that ply. A more specific guide depending on the "rail zone" is available at important stations on that zone. For example, a detailed guide on trains plying in West India can be avaialbe at all major railway stations in West India. You can also get the whole schedule online www.irctc.co.in or www.indianrail.gov.in. Neither option will find connecting trains for you, so some knowledge of important stations is necessary if you are going to a remote location.

[edit] Stations in the metros

The larger cities in India are generally served by more than one railway station. Most trains might halt at only one station, while others may stop at two to three.

MMTS in Hyderabad

• Delhi
  • Delhi Jn (Metro Chandni Chowk/Old Delhi)
  • New Delhi RS (Metro New Delhi)
  • Hazrat Nizammudin (Ring Railway Nizamuddin)
  • Delhi Sarai Rohilla
  • Delhi Shahdara (Metro Shahdara}
  • Delhi Cantt
• Mumbai
  • Mumbai CST (Local Stn. CST)
  • Bandra T (Local Stn. Bandra}
  • Mumbai Central (Local Stn. Mumbai Central)
  • Dadar T (Local Stn. Dadar)
  • Lokmanya Tilak T (Local Stn. Kurla)
  • Borivali (Local Stn. Borivali)
  • Belapur (Local Stn. Belapur CBD)
  • Panvel (Local Stn. Panvel)
• Kolkata
  • Sealdah (Circular Rail Sealdah South, Suburban Rail Sealdah Main)
  • Howrah (Local Stn. Howrah)
• Bangalore
  • Yeshvanthpur
  • Bangalore City
  • Bangalore Cantt
• Hyderabad
  • Secunderabad (MMTS Secunderabad)
  • Hyderabad (MMTS Nampally)
• Chennai
  • Chennai Central (MRTS Park)
  • Chennai Egmore (Suburban Rail Egmore)

[edit] Local rail network in cities

The dense network of the Mumbai locals

IR runs suburban railways in the four main metros, Pune and Hyderabad. Calcutta has a circular railway and a subway as well. Delhi's subway system is a hub-and-spoke 60 km network of three lines.

Mumbai's local trains are the most efficient out of all these. In other cities, it does not make sense to use the suburban rails, although the subway systems are both very good.

The Delhi and Calcutta trains are pathetically meintained. Peeling paint and rusting door-handles are an all-too-common sight. However adventurous you may be, don't even think about travelling in them.

[edit] Trams

Tram systems in India were built by the British in Kanpur, Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai. Only the Calcutta trams remain. Although appreciated for being smoke-free, they are not very popular due to the painstakingly slow speeds. A project going on to renovate all the tram tracks in Kolkata and when the upgradation will be complete, tram travel will become at par with all the other modes of public transport.

[edit] Monorails

The BMC in Mumbai is planning to set up a light rail system which will connect the western suburbs to the airport. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2007.

The Noida Monorail Project has been finalized, and the 65 km circular route is scheduled to be completed just before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

[edit] Famous Stations

A few stations in India are worth a visit.

The Gothic facade of Victoria Terminus

• Victoria Terminus, Mumbai was built in 1888 to celebrate the Victoria Jubilee Year. Its red-brick facade, large Victorian clock and brass grills are all excellent examples of Victorian Railway architecture. At first glance, it may seem similar to St Pancras in London.
• Trivandrum Central has been beautifully restored and is definitely one of the best historical buildings in Kerala. It offers excellent facilities, and is entirely wi-fi accessable.
• Kharagpur Station has the world's longest platform, 1024 m in length. Although the platform itself is filthy, it is a unique experience to walk the entire lentgh.
• Madurai Station is well-known for its Italian marble platforms.
• Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore are both nearby stations in the southern city of Madras. The brick-red buildings were built by the British. Although not as grand as VT in Bombay, both the stations are worth a visit and are iconic symbols of the city.

[edit] Catering services

Food is served on board all express/mail trains which have a pantry car. In AC First, you can expect a gourmet experience. In other classes, the food is merely passable, with the exception of Southern and Western trains. On the Rajdhanis and Shatabdis, the food-prices are included in the fare of the ticket. Snacks are easily available off platform vendors for nominal prices.

[edit] Sleep

Indian Railways runs two cheap hotels in Delhi and Howrah. Passengers can book independant rooms ar dormitories on production of tickets. Known as the Rail Yatri Niwas, bear in mind that the facilities are very basic and the rooms are quite shabby. There is a self-service restaurant. There are also two Railway Hotels in Puri, Orissa and Ranchi, Jharkhand, which offer far better service than the ones in Delhi and Howrah

• Rail Yatri Niwas (''Metro:New Delhi - Line 2''), : New Delhi Railway Station, : +91 11 2323-3484 Dorm Rs 135/bed, Single Non A/C Rs 265, Double Non A/C Rs 385/450, Double A/C Rs 850
• Rail Yatri Niwas, : Howrah Railway Station (''outskirts of Kolkata''), : +91 33 2660-1742 Dorm Rs 100/bed, Double Non A/C Rs 350, Double A/C Rs 550, Triple Non A/C Rs 400
• Railway Hotel, : Puri Railway Station, : +91 6752 222-063 Single Rs 400/600, Double Non A/C 650/750/1000/1200, Double A/C Rs 900/1500, Triple Non A/C Rs 850/1700