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Train Travel in India

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when is teh best tim eto book train tickets?
16 years ago, June 6th 2007 No: 1 Msg: #14968  
Hi people, my friend and i are goign travelling round India for just one month in Spetember. we were hoping to do most (all) of our travelling on trains. i have read that tickets should be booked weeks in advance as the trains get rammed. is this true or can we just get our ticket when we get there or like a couple of days before we want to move on? as we dont know entirely where we want to go and how long we want to stay there is wont really be suitable to book weeks in advance! Reply to this

16 years ago, June 7th 2007 No: 2 Msg: #14980  
B Posts: 34
Yup, I'm afraid it's true. We also wanted to be free to choose when and where to go but it's just not possible. Some trips are easier than others but for example, we were in Agra and decided to go to Goa the following day or so, er no, no space available for another month. We totally changed our plans based on what tickets were available. But if you only have one month, I'd make some plans. You can cancel your tickets in advance and get a percentage of the money back (depending how close to travelling you are). India is so much more massive than it appears on the map and you could find yourself really stuck if you dont have tickets. Have a look on www.indianrail.gov.in, it's not the most straightforward website but it does have info on every train in India. You just need to know the station names of places you're thinking of going to.

The more expensive classes get booked up last but they have a really strange system that means that if a train goes from Delhi, to Agra, to Goa for example, there may be no seats on the agra to goa section, but there are some from Delhi to goa. You can choose to buy the ticket from Delhi but get on in Agra, it's just a lot more money. So even when there are no tickets left from Agra, and they say it's totally booked, it may actually be quite empty because the allocated tickets from Delhi (which go through Agra) havent been bought. I hope that makes sense! Reply to this

16 years ago, June 7th 2007 No: 3 Msg: #14990  
right then! thanks for your help, i better get planning! if i book the big trips would i still be able to get on the smaller trips over there? what about buses do they get booked up too? this is going to take more planning then i thought! Reply to this

16 years ago, June 7th 2007 No: 4 Msg: #14991  
B Posts: 34
I didnt do much travelling by bus, but what I did do I always booked the night before no problems. Short trips are generally okay I think by train unless there's a festival on, then it's a free-for-all (see my blog "woohooo pongala" for photos!)
The Train's great though, we ended up going from Agra to Trivandrum (way down south) on a train that took 48 hours, it was one of those booked but not booked occaisons and for the entire trip, we had 8 berths to ourselves in 3rd class (just the 2 of us). Normally there would of course be 8 people so it felt very luxurious.
Just so you know, you can get food on the train that's okay but it tends to be the same every meal. It's super cheap, and although there are people selling drinks periodically, we always took tonnes of bottles of water for long journies and were always glad we had.
Have a great time, and pm me if you want to know specifics! Reply to this

16 years ago, June 7th 2007 No: 5 Msg: #14992  
thanks thats great! just been checking out that train website now - its confusing me already! we wanna go from agra to goa so just trying to find a train that will take us there - i cant seem to find goa in the destinations - does it have a different name? im sooo excited! did you go round ragasthan? can you recommed any places to visit? elephant rides, trekking etc? Reply to this

16 years ago, June 7th 2007 No: 6 Msg: #14997  
You can do it online - and print e-tickets goto www.irctc.co.in and sign up - make a profile and book your tix! Reply to this

16 years ago, June 7th 2007 No: 7 Msg: #14998  

One thing, the travel agency will tell you that train are full a lot of time you ask, this is partially true. I mean its true theycant sell tickets, but if you go to the train station they have special quota and counter for tourist and normally theres place. Also NEVER just ask a train ticket to a destination without specify your seat, you have to get SLEEPER , or 2nd class, or AC CLASS, because if not , you ca be trap like me in a 8 hours train stand up and impossible to move 1 inch in any direction...you dont want to experience this. Also the train are almost always late, last one i took was 2h30 late...

For me i prefer bus, but its not the majority of people will tell you
But bus with sleeper were ok for me, more on time, closer than train station, easy to book. and more intimity than the train ... but yea on some road theres a lot of bomps... but i prefer bus anyway ... SLEEPER BUS, you dont need AC, jus open window will do the job Reply to this

16 years ago, June 7th 2007 No: 8 Msg: #15002  
so your saying we'll have a good chance getting tickets if we turn up at the tourist counter? i think we are goona take buses on the shorter journeys (just a few hours) but if there is a biggy then we gonna plan trains hopefully. are sleeper buses the cheapest option? what is the cheapest grade of travel and how scabby is it? i mean is it bearable cos i dont mind scabbiness - ive been to some dodgy places in my time! Reply to this

16 years ago, June 8th 2007 No: 9 Msg: #15014  
hi gemma
me Nayan webdesigner from india
ya you have to book tickets in advance if you wanna get seats or else you can get ticket by paying bit extra to travel agent.
tickets rates and all depends on places you travelling...
ofcourse trains are better then road travel(sleeper bus)it will save ur lots of time
i welcome you to india
i m sure u will enjoy my country
do write to me if u have any furthere doubts or questions abt indian trip
good luck
Nayan Reply to this

16 years ago, June 8th 2007 No: 10 Msg: #15015  
B Posts: 34
I never went to a travel agent, always straight to the train station and always the tourist tickets were what went first in my experience. The Agra-Goa was the worst situation in terms of there not being any tickets available for the longest amount of time. Other destinations were much better. I think we bought a ticket to Varanasi from Delhi within a couple of days. But the problem is with only a month, you cant risk that happening really as a few days delay is a huge deal in a month.
I've been to some pretty dodgy places too and for the most part I found buses on the okay side of scabby - they leaked a bit sometimes, and had bags of ducks on them but they were okay. Plus if you're just in a group of girls, there is a rule that you get the seats near the front - the conductor will tell you where to sit, and will remove men from front seats for you if they're perfectly able to stand (not if its overcrowded though!)
I found South India to be far far far more bearable than north India. I havent met a single person that didnt have a love hate thing going on, particularly in the north. Be prepared for a LOT of hassle, it's much worse than anywhere I've been before or since, and what grinds you down is the Indian stare. So many people just stare, and when you turn and smile back, for the most part they continue to stare, no smile, but this seems to happen much less in the south.
I dont know about Rajasthan or trekking as we didnt do those things but our best experiences were without a doubt when we wandered away from the cafes and guest houses, hired bikes and went exploring. We met so many lovely people that way and it restored our faith in the country. Until we started doing that we felt like walking cash machines!
Reply to this

16 years ago, June 8th 2007 No: 11 Msg: #15016  
B Posts: 34
oh and one more thing, as I dont want anyone to be caught out like we were... If you get a taxi from the airport, because you're exhausted and just want to be taken somewhere, dont hand the driver the ticket until you reach the destination, (he only gets paid when he hands that back, and he's already been told where to take you so he doesnt need it) and dont fall for any stupid lies like he's not sure where you;re going and has to stop at this friendly tourist information centre to ask them.
If we hadnt just got off the plane having had a total of 4 hours sleep in the last 72 we may have had more wits about us, but being exhausted we were utterly skanked, dumped in the middle of nowhere and told that Delhi was full and that our hotel had not received our booking.
It was Christmas day and we had just wanted somewhere slightly pleasant to start off with. It was all lies, and thankfully bob had enough sense to refuse to pay $160 for a flight up to the far north where it was snowing and to gather our bags and leave. The taxi had left us, we had no indian money and no idea how close we were to any accommodation or an ATM. Unfortunately this happens more than it should and when you're exhausted from a plane journey, it's really hard to think rationally! Reply to this

16 years ago, August 20th 2007 No: 12 Msg: #18230  
hey gemma
is all set to visit india?
Reply to this

16 years ago, September 18th 2007 No: 13 Msg: #19624  
hello everyone

why u are not trying for Palace on Wheels , a luxury train of India. Reply to this

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