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Journey By Train
The railways provides some of the good means of transport in India.
Railway tracks cris-cross the country and connect almost all the major
tourist destinations in India. There are tourist places which have a
direct railhead which connects them with other places of transition. But
there are many tourist places which are waiting for the railways to lay
down the tracks. Nevertheless, the number of commuters being handled by
railways is tremendous.
About the trains, there are many categories in which the trains have been
divided and accordingly the fair and time taken to cover a distance
varies. There are Rajdhani trains from Delhi which connects the other
state capitals with the national capital of India. These trains have three
classes first class, second class and three tier sleepers. The fare
differs accordingly. In the Rajdhani trains catering is free according to
your taste also they provide you beddings if you need one.
Then there are Shatabdi trains which run for not very long distances and
are the fastest trains in India. These trains only have chair cars and
catering is free. Often these trains have special events on board like
fashion show on the train and music by a DJ. Both the Rajdhani and
Shatabdi trains are fully air conditioned.
Apart from the Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains are the superfast trains
which connect the various places and have limited stops. These trains have
AC classes and Sleeper class. The fare of these trains varies from the
ordinary trains. Then there are mail trains which were started primarily
to carry mails from one place to other. The passenger and local trains
carry local commuters travelling for short distances.
Then railways have special trains running in major tourist sectors and
often are designed to bring back the memories of bygone eras. Like the
Palace on wheels as the name indicates has been designed to connect the
tourist places in Agra, Rajasthan. It starts from Delhi and covers Jaipur,
Udaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Agra and other historic places. As
the name indicates this train infuses royalty in travelling with modern
restaurant, bar and library on board. The train has been decorated in
Royal style and gives a royal feeling. One has to pay in dollars for this
train and reservation is done at the Government of Rajasthan tourist
offices and Railway headquarters. Also, there are some authorised travel
agents who do the reservation for this train. On the same lines chugs the
Royal Orient Express which covers the tourist destinations in Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh.
Apart from these trains are the special trains like the Buddha Parikrama
train or the Fairy queen which run for particular time period and cover
some specific destinations. Like the Buddha Parikrama covers the major
places related to Buddha. Fairy Queen is the oldest running locomotive in
the world and runs between Delhi and Sariska National Park.
For the convenience of commuters railways has opened computerised
reservation offices all over India and one can get reservation for any
train form these counters. But there is a major rush for reservations and
it is better to get tickets well in advance other wise you might land up
in trouble.
| Rajdhani Expresses
New Delhi Nizamuddin |
Shatabdi Expresses
New Delhi Mumbai Central/CST Howrah |