| Introduction | | | | are posted on the notice board at each station about |
| India has the second largest network of railways in | | | | two hours before departure, showing the name, age |
| the world which has over 63,000 Km of track laid | | | | and sex of each passenger reserved in each berth in |
| between 7000 stations divided into 9 Zones - | | | | each coach. The reservation list for each coach will |
| Western, Central, Eastern, Northern, North Eastern, | | | | also be pasted on the train itself, next to the |
| Northeast Frontier, Southern, South Central and | | | | entrance door. Check to see that your name is listed. |
| South Eastern. It is one of the most convenient and | | | | 2. Food and drink on Indian Trains |
| popular mode of transport for traveling in India. The | | | | There are no restaurant or buffet cars on Indian |
| last stations of the four directional boundaries are | | | | Railways, but on long distance trains an attendant will |
| West-Mumbai, South-Kanyakumari, East-Guwahati, | | | | appear in your coach and ask you if you would like |
| and North-Jammu. Therefore, Culture Holidays offers | | | | to order food. He will note down your order on a bit |
| an exclusive opportunity to explore and to have | | | | of paper. An hour or so later he will reappear with |
| close look into the lives, culture, philosophy, religion, | | | | some rice and curry in small foil containers from the |
| bustling markets, crowded places, geographical | | | | kitchen car. Attendants also regularly pass down each |
| variations, cuisines, dress styles, languages and so | | | | car selling soft drinks, snacks, or excellent hot sweet |
| many other facets of Indian people with the Indian | | | | Indian tea for a few rupees. On the premier Rajdhani |
| Railways. Be it the cultural tour, the wildlife tour, the | | | | Express trains and the premier daytime Shatabdi |
| South India tour, the North India tour or the West, | | | | Express trains food is included in the fare, served at |
| central and East India tour, the railways network | | | | your seat. |
| takes you to the place of your choice. Indian railways | | | | 3. Cleanliness, Toilets and Crowding |
| offer you a lot of options when you choose to | | | | On fast long-distance trains in AC1, AC2, AC3, or AC |
| explore India by train. The types of class available are | | | | Chair Class, all passengers have an assigned seat or |
| 1st class, AC 2tier, AC 3tier, 2nd class sleeper and | | | | sleeping berth so there's no overcrowding. All these |
| Chair Car. | | | | classes have fairly clean, with both western-style and |
| Discovering India Through Indian Railway Passes | | | | squat toilets. On the other hand, Sleeper Class gets |
| To explore the splendor of multi-faceted India, | | | | much grubbier than the AC classes and unreserved |
| INDRAIL PASSES provide excellent value for money | | | | passengers can sometimes enter the coaches making |
| and enhance the charm of holidays for visitors from | | | | it crowded. 2nd class unreserved can be incredibly |
| abroad. INDRAIL PASSES offer visitors on a budget, | | | | crowded. |
| the facility to travel as they like, over the entire | | | | 4. Security on Indian trains |
| Indian Railway System, without any route restriction | | | | Indian trains are quite safe to travel on, even for |
| within the period of validity of the ticket. These | | | | families or women traveling alone, and you are |
| passes can only be purchased by foreign nationals | | | | unlikely to have any problems. Having said that, theft |
| and NRI's on payment in US Dollars, Pound Sterling | | | | of luggage is not unheard of, so just for peace of |
| and other convertible foreign currencies. | | | | mind take a long bicycle lock or medium-sized padlock |
| Tips for Train Travel in India | | | | to secure your bags. In the sleeping-cars, there are |
| 1. Checking your reservation | | | | wire hoops hanging down underneath the seats to |
| Your train, coach and berth number is printed on your | | | | which you can padlock your luggage. |
| ticket. Reservation lists for each long-distance train | | | | |