Indian Railways Train Journey Discussion.

S

solo_wing

Guide
Hello Guys,

I have a trek coming in Kerala Next month. I'm travelling by train . I have experienced North Indian Railway Train journeys many time and it is horrible 60% of the time. I'm sure many of us have seen recent videos and even experienced it...people boarding without tickets and I am talking about AC class forget about sleeper class.

fact is AC class has become new sleeper class and sleeper class is new General class and General class is " Zinda rahe toh phir milenge" class.


So point is... I wanted to ask people from South-India here or any who regularly travels to those zone on trains ...Is South Indian Trains as bad as North-Indian . I mean bustling issues , cleanness issues etc.
 
I travelled in a sleeper class to Kochi. It's no different from rest of the country. Smelly unusable toilets, freeloaders travelling without a ticket, trash all over the place, my food and water was stolen and my arrival delayed by 10 hours. Kerala is well connected by air, fly instead
 
awestorr said:
3AC is the new sleeper.
I would recommend 2AC, if you want peace of mind and can afford it.
Click to expand...
Yes. I mean 3AC as a new sleeper class.
hmm...might consider that too.

kalph09 said:
I travelled in a sleeper class to Kochi. It's no different from rest of the country. Smelly unusable toilets, freeloaders travelling without a ticket, trash all over the place, my food and water was stolen and my arrival delayed by 10 hours. Kerala is well connected by air, fly instead
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I cannot take flights for most places specially when conducting trekking and all because I carry camping stuffs that can contain things like camping stoves and some other non permitted products.

Thanks btw for sharing your experience.

May I ask from where were you travelling from towards Kochi...10hrs is crazy but I've had 11-12 hrs delayed myself at times so I understand.
 
Ah! That rules out flying then.

I travelled between Bangalore and Kochi often by Kochiveli express. The problem with this train is it's schedule at 430pm. It picks up a ton of labourers at every stop between 5-9pm.

I did try VB trains. A lot better. Seating arrangement sucks though. Whole family got different seats!
 
Depends on the route. I've traveled several times between Mumbai and GUJ, MP & RAJ. Even Goa,

Never had a problem. Traveled mostly by Sleeper, BTW.

But when I had to return to Mumbai and the train originated from UP, I played safe and traveled Rajdhani.

If there is a Tejas, Rajdhani or Vande Bharat option you should be OK.

The rail journey between Mumbai & Goa (and even beyond) during or just after the monsoons is breathtaking - something you will miss traveling by air.

From the Vistadome:
20210914_103328_PS_1024x768.jpg
 
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ibose said:
Those are allowed in check in baggage as long as they are empty of any fuel. You can buy fuel before starting the trek.
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I am aware about it .by the books it is allowed with most airlines.
i know a fellow trekker person who travelled that his stove was not allowed to carry because it still had fuel smell left . Even though it was empty but they objected about the smell . It can be a big hassle if they decide not to permit.

Beside I also carry some other fire starter stuffs for emergency ( incase fuel stove fail as usually they have decent chances of failing at times too) Extra baggage is another concern as camping equipment with personal stuff often go beyond the baggage limit easily.



kalph09 said:
Ah! That rules out flying then.

I travelled between Bangalore and Kochi often by Kochiveli express. The problem with this train is it's schedule at 430pm. It picks up a ton of labourers at every stop between 5-9pm.

I did try VB trains. A lot better. Seating arrangement sucks though. Whole family got different seats!
Click to expand...
Alright.
PoBoy said:
Depends on the route. I've traveled several times between Mumbai and GUJ, MP & RAJ. Even Goa,

Never had a problem. Traveled mostly by Sleeper, BTW.

But when I had to return to Mumbai and the train originated from UP, I played safe and traveled Rajdhani.

If there is a Tejas, Rajdhani or Vande Bharat option you should be OK.

The rail journey between Mumbai & Goa (and even beyond) during or just after the monsoons is breathtaking - something you will miss traveling by air.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing experience. I am aware of North Indian Trains. As I have travelled all across India except for South-India.
I was hoping South-India is going to be different but experiences shared here has got my expectations corrected.
 
I traveled in Sleeper several times last year between Kochi-Bangalore and Kochi-Kannur and I never had anything stolen, or experienced anything more than an hour delay. I don't recall that much trash either. Maybe it depends heavily on the time of day and route, but I would still travel by train if I can't get a flight ticket. It's not exactly comfortable but it works. I think people here are exaggerating a bit. Just get an AC ticket and you'll be fine.
 
I regularly travel via trains for my journeys limited to the four South Indian states, and I have rarely encountered overcrowding issues in 3AC or 2AC. Sleeper compartments are also okay to some extent. It always depends on which train you are taking. There are some trains which are always delayed, and poorly maintained. These are especially long distance trains coming all the way from UP or Bihar or WB etc.. Of course, in the recent years the longest train travel I have done lasted only 16 hours, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.
What is your origin and destination? Also, check for the average delay for a particular train in the MNTES portal. In addition to live tracking, you can check the average delays for each station using this portal, and plan your trip accordingly.
 
awestorr said:
3AC is the new sleeper.
I would recommend 2AC, if you want peace of mind and can afford it.
Click to expand...
Agreed, if viable, 2AC is the way to go. A marked improvement over 3AC in every aspect, most of the time. That includes cleanliness, the attitude of your co-passengers, and general safety.
 
OP should know that monsoon will be peak in Kerala in July and it can become really hard troublesome and even borderline dangerous depending on terrain or region.
Saying this since you mentioned trekking.
Good to enjoy greenery and thrashing rain if you enjoy that.

Trains are the same, earlier when I used to travel a lot, it was general complaint of Keralaites that they pay higher amount to railways (even now) but get old junk from center and the state being always ignored.
Now a huge percent of labor workforce in Kerala is from WB, UP, Bihar, Odisha, illegal migrants, etc. which adds to the problems.
 
TEUser2K1 said:
OP should know that monsoon will be peak in Kerala in July and it can become really hard troublesome and even borderline dangerous depending on terrain or region.
Saying this since you mentioned trekking.
Good to enjoy greenery and thrashing rain if you enjoy that.

Trains are the same, earlier when I used to travel a lot, it was general complaint of Keralaites that they pay higher amount to railways (even now) but get old junk from center and the state being always ignored.
Now a huge percent of labor workforce in Kerala is from WB, UP, Bihar, Odisha, illegal migrants, etc. which adds to the problems.
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing this information.
I'm aware of the monsoon risks in Kerala and maybe we might have to make changes of our schedule but we also want to enjoy greenery and beach of Kerala.


logistopath said:
What is your origin and destination? Also, check for the average delay for a particular train in the MNTES portal. In addition to live tracking, you can check the average delays for each station using this portal, and plan your trip accordingly.
Click to expand...
Delhi to Kozikhode.
 
An avid train traveller here..my exp. in my words..

3rd AC is the new sleeper class tbh.
Garibrath is the worth train to be in. Just AC with general class people.
3E is the new local train with AC to accommodate aka force more people into a compartment. Like a Dunki trip!

I always vouch for 2nd AC and may be 10yrs down 1AC but rather than spending on 1AC its better to travel in the Air for same or lesser rates.

Sleeper is ram bharose irrespective of destination and directions as even general class people along with waiting class zoly people etc. can be found hiding in the toilets and along the toilet lines making its impossible for the reservation people to even pee and shiii!

Worse part is... in all these developments, we are still left with just 4 toilets for 76 passengers per bogies. They should focus on increasing to 6 at least.
An extra bogie can always be attached even if they deduct few births making way for extra toilets.
 
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Just buy the most expensive ticket. Trains are a hit or miss. Any mango can waltz in, and ruin the whole trip. Well...it is same with flights now, or restaurants. Travel in a group so no one gangs up.
 
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