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Above:  The platform at Amritsar before departure of the Shane Punjab Express for Delhi...

Without a shadow of a doubt, the best way to see India is not on a plane at 35,000 feet, but at ground level on the incredible Indian railway system.  In fact, no visit to India is complete without experiencing the bustle of Indian railway stations and a safe & comfortable journey on an Indian express train with the tea seller's welcome cry of 'Chai, chai, garam chai' coming down the aisle.  You can safely forget media images of overcrowded suburban trains with people sitting on the roof.  On a long distance express in an AC Chair car or an AC1 or AC2 sleeper, all seats and berths are reserved and it’s a safe, civilised, cheap & comfortable way to get around India.  Even long distances such as Bombay to Delhi, Delhi to Varanasi or Delhi to Udaipur can be covered more time-effectively than flying, using overnight AC Sleeper trains, city centre to city centre, saving a hotel bill into the bargain.

On this page...

Train routes

Train times

Fares

How to buy train tickets, when in India

How to buy Indian train tickets online from outside India

Tips for train travel in India

What are Indian trains like?  The 8 classes of seat & sleeper!

Buying and using an IndRail pass

Where to go & what to see in India

Cruise trains - The Palace on Wheels

International trains, buses & ferries from India

Europe to India overland (via Turkey, Iran, Pakistan)

Recommended guidebooks 

Hotels & accommodation in India

Finding a flight to India

Sponsored links...

With 63,000 km of rail routes and 6,800 stations, the railway network in India is the third biggest in the world after Russia and China, and the second biggest in the world in terms of passenger kilometres.  Indian Railways are the world's biggest employer, with over 1.5 million staff.

• The trains in India go almost everywhere, and it's generally safe to assume that you can travel between any two Indian cities or major towns by train.

• For an Indian railways route map see www.indianrail.gov.in and look for maps.

• There's currently no railway to Kashmir, but a line to Srinagar and beyond is under construction, part has now opened but the remainder is unlikely to open before 2016.  The line heads through tough terrain, and will feature the highest railway bridge in the world.

• Khajuraho (a much-visited temple complex) now has a station, with an overnight train 3 times a week from Delhi's Nizamuddin station at 21:35 on Tue, Fri & Sun.  It  returns from Khajuraho at 18:15 on Mon, Wed, Sat.

It's easy to check train times & fares for any journey in India at www.indianrail.gov.in, the official Indian Railways website.  This is an amazing site, but a little bewildering.  It's a good training course for your travels in India!  There are some tips for using www.indianrail.gov.in below.  Alternatively, it can be easier to check train schedules at www.cleartrip.com (a private agency website, click 'Trains' then make your enquiry).  You can buy tickets through www.cleartrip.com, too, but see this advice first.  Indian trains are a very practical way to get around, and even long journeys can be done overnight by sleeper train more time-effectively than a flight.  As an example, here are some train times from Delhi to key tourist destinations:

Top tips for finding train times & fares using www.indianrail.gov.in...

• Look for 'Trains Between Imp. Stations' at the top of their home page.  This will give you train times & fares between all the most important places in India.

• Do you need to change trains?  www.indianrail.gov.in will only show direct trains.  If there isn't a direct train you'll need to guess at a likely interchange station and make separate enquiries for both sections of the journey.  For example, for Varanasi to Jaisalmer, try asking for Varanasi to Delhi and then Delhi to Jaisalmer, or Varanasi to Jaipur then Jaipur to Jaisalmer.  For journeys to Simla the interchange station is Kalka, for trips to Darjeeling it is New Jalpaiguri.

• City names:  Bombay appears as Mumbai, Madras as Chennai, Calcutta as Kolkata.  Delhi is still Delhi, at least for now - forgive me if I stick to the familiar English language names..!

• Delhi:  The main city centre station in Delhi is New Delhi, so look for 'New Delhi' as well as 'Delhi'.  Delhi Junction station is in central old Delhi. H.Nizamudin and Sarai Rohilla stations are secondary Delhi stations, further from the city centre and best reached by taxi.

• Bombay:  There are several stations in Bombay, but the most important (and impressive) is the magnificent colonial Victoria Terminus, now renamed 'CST'.  So start by looking for trains from 'Mumbai CST'.  If you don't see any suitable trains, try Bombay Central ('Mumbai BCT') then finally Dadar which is a little way out of the centre.

• Calcutta:  The main station in Calcutta is across the river in Howrah, often just shown as 'Howrah'.  Trains from Calcutta to New Jalpaiguri (the railhead for Darjeeling) use Calcutta Sealdah station, often just shown as 'Sealdah'.

• Agra:  The main station for fast trains is Agra Cantonment ('AGRA CANTT'), which is an autorickshaw or taxi ride from the Taj Mahal, although Agra Fort is nearer the town centre.

• Goa:  Goa isn't a town or city, it's a region.  The main stations in  Goa are Madgaon and Vasco da Gama, so use these when you check for train times.

• How many nights?  If the system shows a train running overnight, make sure it isn't actually two or more nights.  The journey from Bombay to Calcutta or from Delhi to Madras is about 36 hours, i.e. typically two nights. On the other hand, travelling on a fast train, Bombay to Delhi or Calcutta to Delhi takes just one night.

• The 8 different classes...  There are 8 different classes on Indian Railways, but not all of them are available on every train.  There is an illustrated guide to what each class is like further down this page.  For overnight journeys, most visitors choose AC2 (2nd class 2-tier air-conditioned, shown as '2A') or if they can afford it, AC1 (1st class air-conditioned, shown as '1A'), although more adventurous backpackers might choose sleeper class ('SL').  AC3 is also fine.  For daytime journeys, air-conditioned chair car ('CC') is a good choice where it's available.

• Rajdhani Express trains are excellent extra-fast air-conditioned long-distance trains linking Delhi with regional capitals such as Bombay, Calcutta, etc.  These are the best trains to take:  The Delhi to Bombay and Delhi to Calcutta Rajdhani Expresses leave in the early evening and arrive in the morning, so actually save time compared to flying.  Meals are included in the fare, served at your seat.  The Delhi-Bombay Rajdhani uses brand-new German-designed coaches - see this link for photos.  Highly recommended, they beat flying, hands-down..!

• Shatabdi Express trains are excellent fast air-conditioned daytime trains running on routes such as Delhi - Agra, Delhi - Jaipur and Delhi-Kalka with air-con chair class and executive air-con chair class.  Refreshments are included in the fare.  Again, these are the best trains to take, highly recommended.

• You may find the privately-run Indian train website www.cleartrip.com easier to use, see below.

You can check train fares at www.indianrail.gov.in or www.cleartrip.com.  However, here are some sample one-way fares in rupees, including reservation and fast train charges.  This will give you an idea of how much Indian train travel costs, and how the fares for different classes compare. 

Children aged 0 to 4 travel free, children aged 5 to 11 travel at half fare, children aged 12 and over pay full fare.

Shatabdi Express = Premier daytime train, special fare payable, meals included. 

Rajdhani Express = Premier overnight train, special fare payable, meals included.

Do you need a reservation?

Yes, you do.  You need to make a seat or berth reservation for all long-distance journeys on Indian trains, you cannot simply turn up and hop on.  Reservations are now completely computerised.  Indeed, according to an Indian professor with whom I shared a compartment, computerisation saved him 50% of his travel costs as he had always had to pay the same again in bribes to get a reservation!  Indian trains are usually very busy, and they often get booked out days or even weeks ahead.  You should make reservations as far in advance as possible - you may see TV screens in the reservation offices in major cities showing berth availability on the main trains from that city over the next few weeks.  However, a special 'tourist quota' gives foreigners (and IndRail passholders) preferential treatment.

When do reservations open?

Bookings for Indian long-distance trains open 90 days before departure.  It was originally 60 days, but it was experimentally extended to 90 days in 2008 and then made permanent.  Some short-distance inter-city trains may open for bookings less than this, for example Delhi-Kalka & Kalka-Simla may open only 30 days ahead.

The tourist quota...

In addition to the normal 'general' quota of seats or berths available to anyone, many important trains have a small 'tourist quota' of seats or berths available only to foreign tourists and IndRail passholders.  This is very useful:  A train which is theoretically fully booked may still have a few 'tourist quota' berths available within a day or two of departure so that foreign travellers can travel around at short notice.  However, it's not foolproof.  Even using this special quota, you may have to wait a day or so before there is a berth available to your chosen destination in your chosen class.  There is a tourist quota on perhaps 200 trains a day out of a total of 9,000 trains, and the quota might be just 2 places, seldom more than 12 places, spread over each class.  Tickets issued against the tourist quota must be paid for in US Dollars, pounds sterling, or rupees backed by an exchange certificate proving they have been obtained from a bank or bureau de change in exchange for foreign currency.  Rupees backed by an ATM receipt and foreign bank card are usually sufficient.  You cannot book tourist quota tickets online, only at the station, so if you want to book Indian train tickets online you'll have to book places from the normal 'general' or 'tatkal' quotas.

'Reservation Against Cancellation' (RAC) & 'Waitlisted' (WL) places...

Indian Railways have a unique system:  After a train becomes fully booked, a certain number of tickets in each class are sold as 'Reservation Against Cancellation' or 'RAC'.  After all the RAC places have been sold, further prospective passengers are 'Waitlisted' (WL).  If you have an RAC ticket, a passenger with a confirmed reservation may cancel before the departure of the train, in which case you will be promoted to a confirmed seat or berth on the train (shown as 'CNF' meaning 'confirmed'), and your name will be shown against a specific seat or berth on the reservation list on the day of travel pinned on the noticeboard at the boarding station (so remember to check it!).  A waitlisted passenger will then be promoted to RAC in your place.  Alternatively, even if nobody cancels, if you have an 'RAC' ticket you are allowed to board the train and travel.  You will normally be given a place to sit (but not a berth) in a carriage of the relevant class, for example two RAC passengers might have to share a 2-seat space that would normally convert into a berth for one person.  If one of the confirmed passengers fails to show up for the train, the on-board staff will then allocate the spare berth to the first RAC passenger (and the second RAC passenger may then find himself with a berth to himself, solving two RAC passengers' problems!).  Obviously, if there are no no-shows, the RAC passengers will have to sit up all night, or perhaps take turns using the berth to snooze.  However, if you're offered an RAC place, do take it, as you'll usually end up with a confirmed berth on the train.  Indeed, you've a good chance of getting on the train even with a low-number wait-listed ticket.  You can confirm the current status of your booking at www.indianrail.gov.in/pnr_stat.html (or if you've booked with cleartrip.com, www.cleartrip.com/trains/pnr) by entering the 'PNR' number on your ticket, but remember that things can change even on the day of departure.  When the reservation chart is produced on the day of departure, unsold tickets in various special quotas may be released, and WL passengers promoted to RAC and RAC passengers promoted to CNF (confirmed).  What a system!  Detailed explanation of the WL & RAC system, well worth reading! 

'Tatkal' places...

To allow travel at short notice on trains that often become fully-booked weeks before departure, Indian Railways introduced a system called 'Tatkal' (Hindi for 'immediate').  A number of tickets on key trains are held back and released at 08:00 one day before departure (originally 72 hours before, reduced to 2 days in August 2009 and just 1 day in 2011), then sold with a Rs75-Rs300 extra 'Tatkal' charge.  If there's tourist quota places available then the Tatkal system may be irrelevant for you, but if you can't get a tourist quota place, a Tatkal place may be useful.  Tatkal places can also be booked online.

Tourist reservation bureaux...

The main stations in big cities and tourist centres such as New Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Agra, Jaipur and Varanasi have an International Tourist Bureau where foreign travellers can book trains away from the crowds and queues at the normal booking office.  There is also a 24-hour rail booking office at Delhi International Airport.  For a list of stations with an International Tourist Bureau, and opening times, visit www.indianrail.gov.in and select 'Information' then 'International Tourist'.  Ignore anyone telling you the reservations office is closed, but their travel agency across the street can sell you a ticket!

Identifying your train & carriage:  The locomotive backs onto the Jaisalmer to Delhi Express.  The yellow signboard on the end carriage states the train name and number, clearly identifying the train.  Station nameboards are also clearly shown at every station.		An AC2 sleeper car on the Delhi-Varanasi express.  The yellow boards on the coach side tell you the train number and route, so you know you've found the right train.  Under the destination boards, the small yellow square shows the coach number.

Indian trains often get fully-booked weeks in advance, so it's worth booking before you get to India if you have limited time or need to be on a particular train soon after your arrival.  You can book tickets online at privately-run website Cleartrip.com, and in the past you have also been able to book at the official Indian Railways ticket sales website, irctc.co.in, too.  Cleartrip.com charges a very small booking fee, but is simpler and easier to use.  Irctc.co.in is the official site, but is more fiddly to use and recently introduced a requirement to have an Indian mobile number, rendering it useless for overseas visitors unless or until they change it again.  Cleartrip.com is therefore the recommended option.

Option 1:  Buy Indian train tickets online at www.cleartrip.com...

• Who are Cleartrip.com?  www.cleartrip.com is a private company which sells tickets online for Indian Railways.  Unlike some other sites such as makemytrip.com, it accepts foreign (non-Indian) credit cards.  Most people find Cleartrip much easier to use than the official ticket sales site www.irctc.co.in, and many seat61 correspondents have successfully used www.cleartrip.com to book their Indian train tickets.  With irctc.co.in currently requiring an Indian mobile to activate your account with them, Cleartrip.com is the website to use.

• Booking opens 90 days before departure.  Indian long-distance trains open for bookings 90 days before departure.  Some shorter-distance inter-city trains open less than 90 days ahead, for example Delhi-Kalka & Kalka-Simla generally open 30 days ahead.

• You do NOT need an Indian mobile number!  Yes, Cleartrip.com will politely ask you for an Indian mobile number if would like customer service SMS messages, but it is not compulsory.  You can change 'mobile' to 'landline' and enter your overseas phone contact number, it will happily accept this and you can carry on and buy tickets!

• It can only book direct trains.  Like the other Indian railways websites, Cleartrip can only book direct trains.  It cannot book multi-leg journeys involving a change of train.  So for example you'll need to book Delhi to Simla as two separate trips, Delhi to Kalka and Kalka to Delhi.  For Calcutta to Darjeeling, ask it for Calcutta to New Jalpaiguri then New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling.

• It books tickets from the General & Tatkal quotas.  Cleartrip books tickets from the General quota, and for travel the following day it can also book places from the Tatkal quota.  Foreign tourists are perfectly entitled to use the General or Tatkal quotas, it's just that cleartrip.com cannot book places from the Tourist quota if the General quota is full.  You can only take advantage of the Tourist quota if you buy tickets at stations or through overseas IndRail pass agencies.

• Advice if the system is slow or the system 'fails':  The Indian reservation system is huge, in fact it's the biggest computer reservation system in the world.  It gets very busy during the Indian working day, and it occasionally gets slow or troublesome.  The best time to use it is in the Indian evening or very early morning, remembering that the Indian reservation system closes down for maintenance overnight 23:30-00:30 India time (18:00-19:00 UK time, as India is 5½ hours ahead of UK time).  So the time of day can affect how it works.  If you have problems or glitches, try again at a different time of day.  The ideal time to try is 05:30 Indian time, midnight UK time!

• Cleartrip issues 'e-tickets', so no problem with ticket delivery.  You book online & print out your booking reference, then simply show it to the conductor on board the train along with your passport.  If you lose the printout you can still travel as long as you have your passport as ID, but there's an RS 50 fine if you cannot produce the printout or show the reservation confirmation on a laptop or smartphone screen.  E-tickets were first introduced for travelling on the best Shatabdi & Rajdhani Express trains in 2005, then extended it to cover almost all long-distance express trains in 2006.  Tickets cannot be sent overseas or collected from the station.

• There's a small booking & credit card fee:  Cleartrip charges a 20-rupee (30p or $0.50) fee in addition to the ticket price & booking charge, no big deal.  They also charge a 1.8% credit card fee.

• Credit card problem?  Credit cards sometimes fail not because there's a problem with Cleartrip's payment system, but because your own bank is blocking what it sees as a strange foreign transaction.  Check with your bank and if necessary unblock cleartrip.com, then try again.  Cleartrip does accept non-Indian credit cards.

• Available, RAC or Waitlist places:  When you click to see availability on a particular train, you will see places shown as 'Available', 'RAC' or 'Waitlist'.  'Available' means there are tickets available for confirmed seats or berths on that train.  'RAC' means that the train is theoretically full, but 'Reservation Against Cancellation' tickets are available for that train which allow you to board and be allocated a berth by the conductor.  So if you only see 'RAC' tickets available, my advice is to go ahead and book, you'll still be able to travel on that train!  'Waitlist' means that all confirmed & RAC tickets have been sold, and you can only buy a waitlist ticket.  You cannot travel with a waitlist ticket, but you may well be promoted to 'RAC' or even a confirmed place when other travellers cancel.  If your waitlisted ticket is not promoted to RAC or confirmed (thus allowing you to travel), the fare will be refunded.  You'll need to decide for yourself whether to buy a waitlist ticket and check your booking status online at www.cleartrip.com/trains/pnr to see if you've been promoted to an RAC or confirmed place as departure approaches, or find an alternative train with confirmed or RAC tickets available.  See the explanation of Reservation Against Cancellation & Waitlisting here.

• If you're booking an AC1 ticket, don't worry that your ticket shows 'confirmed' but doesn't show a specific car or berth number, the reservation lists for AC1 are made up a few hours before departure and posted on the platform notice board and on the coach side.

• Cancellations:  Tickets can also be cancelled online, usually up to 4 hours before the train departure.  The cleartrip.com service & processing fees are non-refundable, and the railway may impose other cancellation fees.  However, the majority of the ticket price is normally refunded if the ticket is cancelled.  Bookings cannot be amended online.

• Let me know if you use cleartrip.com, or if you have any problems.  Ongoing confirmation that Cleartrip is still accepting non-Indian credit cards would be very helpful.

Option 2:  Buy from Indian Railways' own online ticketing site, www.irctc.co.in...

Here are tips for using www.irctc.co.in.  Some people love it, but others struggle, so here are some tips for using this service:

• Period of operation:  The online booking service is not (at the time of writing) available 24 hours a day, it closes for maintenance 23:30-00:30 Indian time, which is 18:00-19:00 GMT.  The system can sometimes be overloaded with visitors, so if you have any problems or if it rejects your credit card, try again later.    This may be why some people breeze through it and love it, while others struggle.  It gets significantly less busy after about 18:00 Indian time (13:00 GMT).

• Registering for an account:  The first step is to go to www.irctc.co.in and register for a user name and password.  Here are some tips:

  (1) If it won't accept your UK postcode, simply use '12345'.  They're not going to send you anything, after all!

  (2)  If it insists on you giving an Indian phone or mobile phone number, then just make one up.  But read the paragraph below!

• Activating your account:  Unfortunately, in summer 2011 they changed their system and they now insist on sending an account activation code to the Indian mobile number which you gave in your registration.  This makes it impossible to sign up to irctc.co.in to buy tickets if you don't have an Indian mobile phone.  However, there is a workaround.  If you email their customer care department (care@irctc.co.in) they will ask you to email them a scan of your passport and then they will email you the activation code, allowing you to activate your account without having an Indian mobile phone.

• Reservations for most long distance trains open 90 days before departure.  Some short-distance inter-city trains open for bookings less than 90 days.  To state the obvious, you can't buy tickets before reservations open!

• Use tickets from the general quota (or if booking at short notice within 48 hours of departure, the taktal quota) as you cannot book tourist quota places online.

• 10 ticket limit:  You can only buy a maximum of 10 tickets per calendar month using this website, so bear that in mind if you expect to book a whole series of trips through this system.  A more complex itinerary requiring more than 10 journeys may be better booked using an IndRail pass, see below.

• Ticket delivery:  Tickets cannot be sent overseas or picked up at the station, but  there are both 'e-ticket' and 'i-ticket' options.

• The e-ticket option:  This is the recommended option.  You simply book online and print out your booking reference, then show it to the conductor on board the train along with your passport.  It's easy, and avoids any problems with ticket delivery.  www.irctc.co.in introduced this hassle-free ticketless option for travelling on the best Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains in 2005, then extended it to cover almost all long-distance express trains in 2006.  A small charge is made for e-tickets, currently RS 25, about 35p.  If you lose the printout you can still travel as long as you have your passport as ID, but there's an RS 50 fine if you cannot produce the printout or show the reservation confirmation on a laptop or smartphone screen.

• The i-ticket option:   You only need to use the i-ticket option if for some reason the e-ticket option isn't available for the train you want.  i-tickets (i = internet) are sent by courier to any Indian address you specify (for example, the hotel where you will be staying) in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and other specified Indian cities.  If you ask for them to be delivered to your hotel, the courier will need to see a letter authorising delivery if you are not there to sign for the tickets, so you will have to arrange this with the hotel.  An email or fax to the hotel authorising them to take delivery is sufficient.  To see which postcodes in which cities are covered by the courier service, select 'PIN codes covered' from the www.irctc.co.in home page.  You will need to know the full address and postcode (which is called a PIN code in India) for your hotel.  If these collection and delivery arrangements don't suit you, and for some reason you can't use the e-ticket option, it may be better to book through an IndRail pass agency using an IndRail pass as explained below.

• Available, RAC or Waitlist places:  When you click to see availability on a particular train, you will see places shown as 'Available', 'RAC' or 'Waitlist'.  'Available' means there are tickets available for confirmed seats or berths on that train.  'RAC' means that the train is theoretically full, but 'Reservation Against Cancellation' tickets are available for that train which allow you to board and be allocated a berth by the conductor.  So if you only see 'RAC' tickets available, my advice is to go ahead and book, you'll still be able to travel on that train!  'Waitlist' means that all confirmed & RAC tickets have been sold, and you can only buy a waitlist ticket.  You cannot travel with a waitlist ticket, but you may well be promoted to 'RAC' or even a confirmed place when other travellers cancel.  If your waitlisted ticket is not promoted to RAC or confirmed (thus allowing you to travel), the fare will be refunded.  You'll need to decide for yourself whether to buy a waitlist ticket and check your booking status online to see if you've been promoted to an RAC or confirmed place as departure approaches, or find an alternative train with confirmed or RAC tickets available.  See the explanation of Reservation Against Cancellation & Waitlisting here.

• If you're booking an AC1 ticket, don't worry that your ticket shows 'confirmed' but doesn't show a specific car or berth number, the reservation lists for AC1 are made up a few hours before departure and posted on the platform notice board and on the coach side.

• Credit card payment:  You pay securely by Visa, MasterCard or Amex credit card.  It will offer you a list of Indian banks, but don't panic!  It is not asking you which Indian credit card you have, but which Indian credit card merchant service you want to handle your transaction.  It's been reported that the Citi Bank payment option works better than the others with overseas (non-Indian) debit cards, and it uses the 'Verified by Visa system'.  Axis used to work best with non-Indian credit cards, but reportedly (as at September 2010) no longer accepts non-Indian cards.  Unlike some Indian budget airline websites, www.irctc.co.in does accept credit cards issued outside India, making it easy for tourists to book train travel this way.  After payment, you will receive an email from Indian Railways with your booking details.

• Credit card problems?  Cards sometimes fail not because there's a problem with the website's payment system, but because your own bank is blocking what it sees as a strange foreign transaction.  Check with your bank and if necessary unblock irctc.co.in, then try again.

...or

Buy tickets via an IndRail pass agency:

The hassle-free way of booking an Indian train journey in advance from outside India, or indeed booking a complete itinerary by rail around India, is to buy an IndRail Pass from the official IndRail pass agency in your home country, complete with any train reservations you need.  Even a single Indian train journey can be arranged using a ½-day pass for any journey lasting less than 12 hours for $26 (£16) in AC2 or $57 (£34) in AC1, or a 1-day pass for any journey lasting less than 24 hours, for $43 (£26) in AC2 or $95 (£56) in AC1.  There are IndRail pass agencies in the UK, Australia, Germany, Finland, Malaysia, South Africa and some other countries, see the IndRail Pass section below.

Checking your reservation...

Your train, coach and berth number will be printed on your ticket.  Reservation lists for each long-distance train are posted on the notice board at each station about two hours before departure, showing the name, age and sex of each passenger reserved in each berth in each coach - the age and sex help the ticket inspector identify that the right passenger is in the right berth.  The reservation list for each coach will also be pasted on the train itself, next to the entrance door.  Check to see that your name is listed.  The system is very efficient, and the days of finding your reserved berth already occupied by several passengers are long gone.  Pictured left, my glamorous assistant Karen demonstrates reading the reservation list next to the entrance door on the Delhi-Varanasi overnight express...

Car numbering:  Coaches on an Indian long distance train are normally numbered as follows:

AC1:  car H1, H2, and so on, where 1, 2 is the number of coaches of that class on the train.
AC2: car  A1, A2, and so on.
AC3:  car B1, B2, and so on.
AC chair car:  car C1, C2, and so on.
Sleeper class:  Cars S1, S2, and so on.

So if you booked an AC2 ticket you'd expect to be given a car number 'A1' or 'A2'.

Berth layout and numbering plans:  Berth numbering system, AC1, AC2, AC3, Sleeper Class cars   Seat numbering plan, AC Chair cars

Enjoying a curry in the AC2 sleeper on the Delhi-Varanasi sleeper train (we brought the bottle of Wolf Blass with us!)

Food and drink on Indian trains...

There are no restaurant or buffet cars on Indian Railways, but on long distance trains an attendant will appear in your coach and ask you if you would like to order food.  He will note down your order (usually a choice of 'veg' or 'non-veg') on a bit of paper.  An hour or so later he will reappear with some rice and curry in small foil containers from the kitchen car.  It is not expensive - you can reckon on £1-£2 per meal.  Attendants also regularly pass down each car selling soft drinks, snacks, or excellent hot sweet Indian tea (garam chai) for a few rupees.  On the premier Rajdhani Express trains (linking Delhi with Bombay, Calcutta, etc.) and the premier daytime Shatabdi Express trains (linking Delhi with Jaipur and Agra, etc.), food is included in the fare, served at your seat.

The reservation lists posted on the platform at Agra Cantonment station.

Cleanliness, toilets and crowding...

The efficient reservation system means that you can safely forget any pictures you've seen of overcrowded Indian trains with people on the roof or hanging on the side.  These these photos show suburban trains, or basic unreserved 2nd class on long distance ones.  On fast long-distance trains in AC1, AC2, AC3, or AC Chair Class, all passengers have an assigned seat or sleeping berth so there's no overcrowding.  Don't expect pristine western standards anywhere in India, but you'll find AC1, AC2, AC3 and AC Chair class fairly clean by Indian standards, with both western-style and squat toilets usually in a reasonably sanitary condition.  See the train interior photos below.  On the other hand, Sleeper Class gets much grubbier than the AC classes and unreserved passengers can sometimes enter the coaches making it crowded.  2nd class unreserved can be incredibly crowded.  Toilets in sleeper class or basic non-AC 2nd class seats can leave a lot to be desired...

Security on Indian trains...

Indian trains are safe to travel on, even for families or women travelling alone, and you are unlikely to have any problems at all.  Having said that, theft of luggage is not unheard of, so for peace of mind take along a bicycle lock or medium-sized padlock to secure your bags.  In the sleeping-cars, there are wire hoops hanging down underneath the seats to which you can padlock your luggage.  As in any busy place, pickpockets operate at the major stations (for example Delhi and New Delhi), so take care.

Do Indian trains run on time?

AC2 2-tier sleeper:  An AC2 bay of 4 berths.  There are more photos of what each type of seat and sleeper are like below.

Generally, Indian Railways are very efficient, but Indian trains do run late, and sometimes it's hours rather than minutes.  To get a feel for it, why not go to www.erail.in and see how late yesterday's Delhi-Jaisalmer Express arrived, or last Thursday's Bombay-Delhi Rajdhani Express?  At www.erail.in, select the origin and destination that interests you, and bring up the train list.  Now find the train that you want and click on it.  Now select a date and click the 'train running status' button.  It will show you a table of scheduled times and actual times at each station.  Data is only held for the last few days, not weeks or months ago.

Alternatively, these examples from my own travels may give you a feel for the likely delay:  Delhi-Varanasi overnight express spot on time, Bombay-Calcutta Mail 1½ hours late, Madras-Bombay 'Chennai Express' 40 minutes late, Calcutta-Delhi 'Rajdhani Express' spot on time (Rajdhani Expresses get priority and are pretty punctual), Delhi-Agra 'Shatabdi Express' spot on time (Shatabdi Expresses also get priority and are pretty punctual), Jaisalmer-Delhi Express 2 hours late starting and 3 hours late arriving, Delhi-Kalka-Simla 'Himalayan Queen' spot on time, Varanasi-Agra-Jaipur 'Marudhar Express' 50 minutes late, Delhi-Madras 'Grand Trunk Express' 1½ hours late.

Recharging mobiles & cameras...

These days, people seem unable to go anywhere without an array of electrical gadgetry.  You'll find shaver sockets in most AC1/2/3 sleeper cars, which can be used to recharge cameras & mobiles, though you won't generally find specific power sockets for this purpose on Indian trains.  One tip is to invest in a Power Monkey universal backup battery, which will give you up to 96 hours phone stand-by when your phone's battery dies, and can also be used for recharging PDAs, iPods & some cameras whilst on the move.

Other Indian train tips...

Bring your own toilet paper.  You'll normally find one western toilet and one squat toilet at one or both ends of the car.  In AC1, AC2, AC Chair Class and even AC3 the toilets are normally reasonably clean by Indian standards, and in full working order.  Sleeper Class and 2nd class toilets may be a different matter!

There are 8 classes of accommodation on Indian trains(!), although only some of these classes will be available on a particular train.  These are the classes, in roughly descending order of cost:

Air-conditioned 2-tier (AC2) AC2 provides seats by day, convertible to bunks at night.  AC2 coaches are not divided into separate compartments, but are open-plan, with berths arranged in bays of four (two upper, two lower) on one side of the aisle, and in bays of two along the coach side above and below the windows on the other side of the aisle.  Each bay is curtained off for privacy, and an attendant distributes pillows, sheets and blankets in the evening.  AC2 is found on almost all decent long-distance trains, and it is the way the Indian middle classes travel.  It's relatively clean and uncrowded, and a good choice for most visitors to India.  Berth numbering system, AC1, AC2, AC3, Sleeper Class cars. Right:  A bay of 4 berths in an AC2 sleeper.  The seat back folds down to form the bottom bunk. Far right:  The aisle in AC2.  Bays of four are to the right, bays of two on the left.

Air-conditioned 3-tier (AC3) AC3 is very similar to AC2, but it has three tiers of bunks - upper, middle and lower - arranged in bays of six on one side of the aisle, and bays of two (upper and lower) along the coach side on the other side of the aisle.  It's more crowded than AC 2-tier, and it lacks the privacy curtains and individual berth lights found in AC2.  As in AC2, an attendant distributes pillows, sheets and blankets in the evening.  Berths convert to seats for daytime use.  Berth numbering system, AC1, AC2, AC3, Sleeper Class cars. Right:  An AC3 sleeper on the new Jaisalmer - Delhi Express.  In the far photo, the middle bunk is shown folded against the wall.  The seat backrest folds down to form the bottom bunk.

First class Non-air-conditioned coaches with lockable 4-berth and 2-berth compartments.  Bedding is not included in the fare, but may be available for a small extra charge if booked in advance.  Non-AC 1st class  accommodation has now almost disappeared, as Indian Railways have largely phased it out in favour of AC 2-tier.  It is generally grubbier than either AC1, AC2 or AC3 as it is not sealed against the dirt.

AC Executive chair class AC Executive Chair Class is only found on the most important 'Shatabdi Express' trains, for example Delhi to Agra.  It is available to holders of an AC1 IndRail pass.  Note that online booking systems don't distinguish between AC Executive Chair class & 'AC1', both are shown as 'AC1'.  Seat numbering plan, AC Chair cars.

AC Chair class Comfortable air-conditioned seating cars.  AC Chair Class is found on a number of 'intercity' daytime trains (for example Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Kalka for Simla), and is available to holders of a AC2 class IndRail pass.  A good choice for daytime travel!  Seat numbering plan, AC Chair cars.

Sleeper class windows are fitted with bars to keep out intruders. There is a glass pane and a shutter both of which can be raised / lowered.		A bay of six in sleeper class, showing seats in daytime mode on the left, and berths in night time mode on the right.		The aisle of a sleeper class car.  Bays of six to the right, bays of two on the left.  Remember to bring your own bedding!

Unreserved 2nd class

Open plan cars with wooden or padded plastic seats.  Not recommended for long distance overnight journeys (you'll see the huge scrum of Indians all trying to bag a seat), but quite acceptable for daytime journeys of up to a few hours.

2nd class seating car.		Some trains have padded plastic 2nd class seats...		...others have wooden seats.

Should you buy an IndRail pass or normal tickets?

Above:  London buses at St Pancras?  Bombay buses outside Victoria Terminus!

Indian trains are very busy and often get booked up weeks in advance.  Foreign visitors can make use of the special tourist quota, but even so, you may find the train you want fully booked.  The great benefit of an IndRail pass is that you can ask the UK IndRail pass agency to pre-book some or all of your trains before you get to India, saving time, hassle and possible disappointment.  If you have limited time in India, this is a very good way to get all your train travel pre-booked before you leave home.  On the other hand, if you intend to stay flexible and make reservations as you go, you can still do this with an IndRail pass, but there is little advantage in having one and ordinary tickets may be cheaper.

What types of IndRail pass are there?

IndRail passes come in three classes:  AC1, AC2, and 2nd class.  You can buy one for any time period from ½-day to 90 days.  You can use a ½-day or 1-day pass to book a single one-off train trip or you can arrange a complete pre-booked itinerary all around India using a longer period pass or a combination of passes.

Will an IndRail pass cost more than normal tickets?

An IndRail pass will probably cost more than buying normal point-to-point tickets, depending on your exact travel plans, but not necessarily that much more.  A normal ticket from Delhi to Varanasi costs 1,272 rupees (£18 or $28) in AC2 class, whereas a 1-day AC2 IndRail pass costs $43.  A recent trip to Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Simla all booked in advance from the UK using a 15-day AC2 pass cost $185 (£123), whereas normal point-to-point tickets would have been about £118.  Of course, if you want to stay flexible and not pre-book anything before you get to India, you can still do this with an IndRail pass (passholders qualify for places from the tourist quota), but in that case there is little advantage in having a pass and normal tickets may be the better bet.

Which class of pass?

There are 8 different classes on Indian trains (see the On board Indian trains section), but IndRail passes come in just 3 types:  AC1, AC2 and 2nd class (AC = air-conditioned).  With an AC1 IndRail pass, you can travel in AC1, AC executive chair car class, or cheaper accommodation where there is no AC1 available.  With an AC2 IndRail pass, you can travel in AC2, ordinary 1st class sleepers and AC chair cars.  With a 2nd class pass, you can only travel in sleeper class and unreserved 2nd class.  AC1 is most comfortable, but it's only found on the most important long-distance trains and a handful of shorter distance ones, so an AC1 pass is not worth it unless you're sure you are going to use trains which have AC1 or Executive chair class.  For most people, an AC2 pass is the best bet.  With an AC2 pass, you will be booked in an AC2 sleeper where available, or an AC chair car on a daytime journey where one is available, unless you specifically ask for ordinary (non-air-con) 1st class.  Travelling in sleeper class is an experience, but a 2nd class pass (which allows travel in sleeper class as well as 2nd class seats) is probably only for the more adventurous (or extremely budget-conscious) traveller.

How much does an IndRail pass cost?  www.indiarail.co.uk

A 7-day AC2 pass costs $135 (about £90), a 15-day pass $185 (about £125), a 21 day pass 198 (about £132).  This gives unlimited travel for the relevant period, including all reservations, sleeper berths and bedding, so there are no supplements or surcharges to pay.  You can check prices for all pass durations & classes at www.indiarail.co.uk.

How to buy an IndRail pass - in the UK...

You can buy an IndRail pass, complete with any required train reservations, from the UK IndRail agency, SD Enterprises of Wembley - call 020 8903 3411 or see www.indiarail.co.uk.  I can personally recommend S D Enterprises as an excellent and long-established family firm, who know their subject and go out of their way to advise and help their clients.  If you can, visit them in person, as it is an experience in itself.  You may even get to see Dr Dandpani's video on visiting India...

How to buy an IndRail pass - in other countries...

You can buy an IndRail pass, complete with any required train reservations, via the UK's IndRail agency (SD Enterprises, www.indiarail.co.uk).  Although they are the UK agency, they are normally happy to arrange passes and reservations for people from overseas, although they will only  sell 4-day and longer passes to people living outside the UK, not one-day or half-day passes.  For a list of IndRail pass agencies in other countries, go to www.indianrail.gov.in, click 'Information' then 'International Tourist'.  There are IndRail agencies in Malaysia, Finland, Germany & South Africa, but surprisingly not currently in the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.  If you're from one of these countries, try contacting the UK agency.

Suggested itineraries...

India is vast, and many first-time visitors wonder where to start.  One strategy is to tour only a small area, for example Rajasthan or the beaches of Goa.  But I'd suggest using the excellent Indian train network to see a varied cross-section of India, picking one example of each type of place:  one big city, one hill station, one or two princely cities in Rajasthan, Agra (for the Taj Mahal) and perhaps Varanasi (the classic Hindu holy city on the Ganges).  This way, you see some real contrasting places, with overnight trains minimising both the number of daytime hours spent travelling and hotel bills.  Here's just one suggested itinerary that works well, and easy fills 2 or 3 weeks depending on how much time you have and the pace you want to set.

• Delhi 1-3 days

• Take the Shiv Ganga Express leaving New Delhi at 18:45 arriving Varanasi Junction at 07:30 next morning. AC1, AC2, AC3, Sleeper class.

• Varanasi 2-3 days.  The unmissable Hindu holy city on the Ganges. Make sure you stay in a local Indian riverside hotel such as the Hotel Alka. Western chain hotels are all in the new town, away from the action.

• Take the Marudhar Express from Varanasi Junction at 17:20 (18:15 on some days) arriving Agra Fort at 05:55 next morning. AC2, AC3, Sleeper class.

• Agra - also visit the fantastic royal city of Fatephur Sikhri, some 30km away by bus or car. 2 days.  Agra may be the most touristy place in India, but the Taj is well worth the tourist tout hassle. The fort and ‘baby Taj’ are also worth a visit.

• Take the Marudhar Express from Agra at 06:15 arriving Jaipur at 11:30 the same day. AC2, AC3, Sleeper class.

• Jaipur 2-3 days.  The ‘Pink City’ is one of the most wonderful princely cities in Rajasthan, and indeed in India.

• Take the Delhi-Jaisalmer Express leaving Jaipur at 23:57 arriving Jaisalmer at 11:45 next morning. AC1, AC2, AC3, Sleeper class.  On the day of departure from Jaipur, negotiate a rate to keep your hotel room until you leave for the station.

• Jaisalmer 2-3 days.  This is Rajasthan’s fairytale city, in the desert close to the Pakistan border. It has no airport, so only those who make the effort get to see it!

• Take the Jaisalmer-Delhi Express leaving Jaisalmer at 16:30 and arriving at Delhi (old Delhi station) at 11:05. AC1, AC2, AC3, sleeper class.  Spend the day & night in Delhi.

• An early start! Take the Himalayan Queen leaving Delhi Sarai Rohilla at 05:40 arriving Kalka at 11:10. AC Chair class & 2nd class seats. Change onto the toy train leaving Kalka at 12:10 arriving Simla at 17:20. The journey to Simla by narrow gauge ‘Toy Train’ is a delight.

• Simla 2-3 days.  Cool relaxation and colonial charm in this Himalayan hill station from the days of the Raj. The ideal final destination for your trip!
  Take the Shivalik Deluxe (AC Chair class, meal included) leaving Simla at 17:40 arriving Kalka at 22:20. Change onto the mainline Kalka Mail leaving Kalka at 23:55 and arriving Delhi (this time old Delhi station) at 06:15. AC1, AC2, AC3, Sleeper class.

• Delhi.

You can make this itinerary on either a 15-day ($185) or 21-day ($198) AC2 IndRail pass, depending on how long you take.  However, as you can see from the classes available on each train, you would get little use from paying the extra for an AC1 pass.  Alternatively, how about:

• Calcutta-(overnight sleeper train to New Jalpaiguri then the famous Darjeeling Toy Train)-Darjeeling-Varanasi-(overnight sleeper train)-Agra-(daytime train)-Jaipur-(overnight sleeper train)-Calcutta.

Use www.cleartrip.com or  www.indianrail.gov.in to find train times & fares, as explained above.  Here are some suggested places in each category:

The big cities...

The royal cities of Rajasthan...

Hill stations...

Other places to see...

Two personal favourites:  A ride to Darjeeling...

A personal favourite is the ride to Darjeeling on the narrow gauge Darjeeling Himalaya Railway (DHR), and a night or two at the Windamere Hotel.  The DHR is now a UN World Heritage Site.  Take the broad gauge 'Darjeeling Mail' from Calcutta (Sealdah station) to New Jalpaiguri ('NJP'), leaving Calcutta Sealdah at 22:05 and arriving NJP at 08:40 next morning.  The 'Darjeeling Mail' conveys AC1, AC2, AC3, sleeper class and 2nd class accommodation.  The DHR 'toy train' connects with the Darjeeling Mail in NJP, leaving at 09:00 and arriving Darjeeling at 15:30.  Check the status of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, as it has suffered from rain and landslides in recent years and may not yet have resumed running.

Some guide books recommend taking the bus from NJP to Darjeeling (a 4 hour journey, so much quicker than the 'toy train') and treating the railway as a theme park ride for a quick trip over a short section - ignore them!  Four hours on a bus is cramped and uncomfortable, and hardly a world heritage experience.  The leisurely day spent on the toy train through the Himalayan foothills is a day well spent.  The 09:00  train from NJP is now diesel-hauled except for certain days when the diesel is being maintained, but other services are still hauled by steam locomotives.

Once in Darjeeling, if you can stretch to £95-£130 a night for a single or £125-£145 for a double (including all meals), the place to stay is the Windamere Hotel, www.windamerehotel.com.  Originally a boarding house for bachelor tea planters, it became a hotel in 1939.  Meals are served by white-gloved, turbanned waiters and eaten by candlelight to the sound of Cole Porter tunes on the piano.  Even if you can't afford it, make sure you come along for afternoon tea - probably the best cup of tea you will ever drink...  The hotel's phone number (from the UK) is 00 91 354 22 54 043.

A journey on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway...		The wonderful Windamere Hotel, Darjeeling...

...and a ride to Simla.

A little bit more robust than the line to Darjeeling, the similar toy train up to Simla in the Himalayan foothills is the way to reach Simla, once India's summer capital.  Take a fast broad-gauge train from New Delhi to Kalka and change there onto the Toy Train up into the hills.  The train ride to Simla is one of Simla's highlights on its own.  If you get the chance, use the Shivalik Deluxe Express on the way back down from Simla (it connects with the overnight express to New Delhi going forward next day to Calcutta).  The Shivalik Deluxe has plush fabric-covered first class armchairs, and a meal is served at your seat, included in the price.  Although it gets dark as you descend, at stations without electricity the signalmen hand the single-line token to the driver whilst holding burning torches, the shimmering flames lighting up the side of the train.  It's wonderfully atmospheric.

Simla station.		A wonderful ride up to Simla on the Toy Train...