Travel Tips: The Indian Train Experience

Earlier today I was reading this great post by Dave and Debra at theplanetd.com, India Rail, Train Travel Tips and Tricks. It’s very helpful and chock full of useful information. I was struck by how different is was from the India Rail piece I had been contemplating — the main difference being, I think, that it was very helpful and chock full of useful information.

Now, it’s been a while since I was in India — 10 years, in fact. Apparently things have changed a lot. You can book your train tickets online, for one thing. And, they have a computer desk in the stations now. I have to call BS on this one — I’ll believe it when I see it. When I was there, everything was hand-written in books the size of coffee tables and it took at least 20 minutes of lugging these monstrous tomes back and forth to produce a single ticket. Or maybe that was the banking system I’m thinking of…

It’s all a little hazy now. That said, here is the one tip I would offer to anyone faced with the confusing, overwhelming, and exhilarating experience of sharing a train system with 15% of the world’s population: avoid First Class.

read more ->