No doubt that use train in India is the cheapest and most efficient way to move around the country and in this article you will learn everything about how to travel with trains in India. But there are many important things to know before acquiring a ticket. If you want to travel is a must to evaluate the seasons, because sometimes long-distances train get full really fast. It happened with me when I tried to buy a ticket from Mumbai to Delhi. I ended up flying because there weren’t more tickets available.
There are three main ways to get a train ticket, first is in the station, second using a travel agency and third online. I will explain in detail further.
Buy the ticket in the station
I think this is the best option. In Delhi there is a ticket bureau just for foreigners with air-condition, seats and a reasonable customer service.
In Agra and Jaipur there is a special cabin for foreigners, elders and handicapped. Before buying your ticket in the office or in the cabin, you must fill a requisition form available in the station. In Delhi, you need to get the number of the train you want to board, date and time. You can get this information inside the bureau with the information center employees. When is your turn to buy the ticket, you provide the filled form, passport and money.
There are many categories inside the train, including SL, 3rd class, 2nd class, 1st class. In the shortest stretches I always bought the cheapest fare. I spent 140 INR between Delhi and Agra, the amount of only 2 USD for a 4 hours travel time. It was a very interesting experience, because in the class you can see everything from sellers to homeless people. One of the sellers was changing the bag zipper of one of the passengers. In the end they had a argue about the price and none of them were really happy. In this trip I met a Japanese world traveller Takeshi, he had no phone and his backpack was from the army. I keep traveling with him for 3 days than the same way he appeared, he left.
Between Agra and Jaipur the ticket office told there was only available the train with air-condition. In this case the fare was 650 INR, almost 10 USD. In this day we waited for long in the station and we did like most indians, sit down in the floor.
At least the train was very comfortable, including very spicy food.
In night trains look for better classes for the safety of your valuables.
Buy the ticket in the travel agency
Another way to adquire the ticket is using a travel agency. One of the disadvantage is that you will get a more expensive fare because of the company commission. There is also a risk to be scammed and buy fake ticket. The advantage of this way is that sometimes they are able to get tickets even if in the station is fully booked. You will se how to travel with trains in India is not so simple, but slowly you will figure out.
Buy the tickets online
The third way and more complicated is to have a registration in the in the website www.indianrail.gov.in and another registration in the website www.makemytrip.com. The second website allows you to buy the ticket with the credit card. The government website is not very good and is a bit complicated to understand.
When you reach the train station you need to observe the panel with the train number. Trough this panel you can discover the platform. In Delhi there are 16 different platforms. There is a sign in each wagon with the car number and the seats are also numbered. An that is pretty much how to travel with trains in India.
Beside this, enjoy the trip and the curiosities of India. If you want to learn more about train travel in general, the website The Man in Seat 61 is the best resource out there.
