A Trip With Indian Railways

First I would like to start with two fabulous information about Indian Railways.

1. Indian Railways has the fourth largest railways network in the world with a total length of 67,368 km of rail line. Also Indian Railways carries 8,116 million passengers every year, which is second largest in the world.

2. Indian Railways is the largest employer among all railways companies in the world with a number of approximate 1.4 million employees.

Source:- Wikipedia

So next time whenever you plan a journey with IR, you must feel lucky enough to be a part of this large system.

Let's start the discussion.

Ticket Booking:

After you find out your destination station and available trains to that station from your home station according to your preference of date and time from various sources, you need to book your ticket. In case of local or metro trains, the system of ticket purchasing is not so interesting, but reservation of tickets in express trains is very important. The reservation window opens 120 days before the starting date of journey of the train. You have to book your ticket either through online (by yourself or by brokers) or by standing in the queue outside the counters of designated stations. If the number of your trip members exceeds six, quite certainly you will not get seats consecutively. In worst cases, it may be in different compartments.

That's all about ticket booking. Now the waiting starts for the journey date.

Start of Journey:

You need to go earlier (at least one hours ago) at the station of your starting point. Assuming it is an A class station, you must find some typical characteristics of the station. Let's try to point them out.

• Large digital clocks, showing IST in 24 hours system, are hanging from ceiling everywhere.

• Large or small digital boards, displaying the name and number of arriving and departing trains and their timings.

• Mikes all around the station announcing the arrival and departure of trains (if you can hear them properly, ohhhh you are so lucky!).

• Porters with large luggages scattering everywhere and likely to smash you anytime.

• Many people all around the station from all over the country - chatting, gossiping (generally at high pitched voice), sleeping on the floors, loafing around without any reason, eating, spitting gutkhas on tracks, buying foods and blah blah blah.

• Some book stores having books of nearly all main languages in India.

• A lot of food stalls and other stores of other accessories from glasses to hats, from chain to soap papers.

• Beggers all around the station.

• Some restaurants generally with overpriced meals etc.

And when you are enjoying or suffering from all those things, suddenly you will hear a noise about your train has arrived at the station. You will board the train with all your luggages and find your seat.

Suddenly you may discover that your seat is occupied by someone else. Ohh! Another round of harassment is waiting for you. After getting rid of all the problems you sit peacefully with your family and suddenly you feel a jolt and realise that the has started its journey.

It's journey time:

The train starts with a slow pace. And after sometime it starts gaining speeds. Gradually it leaves urban areas and runs through typical villages and vast fields of India. Surely you will enjoy the scenes and I can assure you that you will never be bored by the scenes as it changes time by time. When everything is going fine and yor are hoping that the train will be on time at your destination, again you feel a shake and the train stops. You will never know when it'll run again. And then all the vendors and hawkers will target you. Ohhh.!! What a disgusting moment.

By the time, sun will be down and you may order a meal from pantry or can carry your own. After finish dinner, you have to practice gymnastics to reach the upper or middle berth. You will not know when you will fall asleep. Sorry, you have to go to the toilet twice or more. I forgot to mention that. Don't worry, just close your nose and do the work and then come back.

Journey ends:

Then certainly the train will arrive your station. Don't know when but it will certainly arrive. Get down from the train safely with all your belongings and bid a temporary good bye to the Indian Railways.