Traveling by Indian Railways

After almost a decade, I made reservations for traveling by Indian Railways and the experience has been as easy as booking an air ticket on Southwest Airlines.

When I was in school, and the designated ticket-booker at home, one had to leave home early enough (and 30 days in advance) to reach the booking counter in Madras Central at 7 AM when the counter opened, , fill the form with the passenger names, ages and desired berth (UB/LB) and then watch the ticketing agent enter in all the details with a single finger. This would be followed by a confirmation of ticket availability, or  a discussion on whether RAC 26 had a chance of getting confirmed, give exact change or go back with exact change to pick up the tickets.

Cleartrip has removed much of the excitement (and pain) of getting the cardboard tickets (before computer-printed tickets were available) - now it's enter the orign and destination, the date and class, pay and print. 

We've planned a completely train-centric holiday this year-end with travel from Bangalore to Chennai to Shoranur and Trivandrum. It would be good not to spend 90 minutes to reach the airport, go through security, bad airplane food, cramped middle-row seats and waiting for luggage.  

Watch this space !

Comments

boon2 said…
but are the ticket prices comparable to Deccan airlines? Make it 16years since i travelled by train in India but reservation experience feels so familiar though i use todo in Bangalore.

Sreekanth
Dec 16, 2008, 3:39:00 AM
shankar said…
Train food should be equally bad. And toilets too. Probably Satapdi Express is better maintained. Enjoy the holidays.
Dec 27, 2008, 1:38:00 AM
Girish said…
Back after multiple train journeys - train food is not too bad, bathrooms are patchy - some are well cleaned and sanitized - others smell from 30 feet away and fares are much cheaper than driving or flying
Jan 4, 2009, 4:45:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A walk around the lake

Image
Henry David Thoreau, in his 1854 book, Walden , narrates his experience of living in solitude for two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst the woodland. While we didn't have the luxury of spending as much time around our neighborhood Kaikondrahalli Lake , this Saturday morning walk around the lake was a delight with the variety of birds, bird calls and nature on exhibition. We reached the lake at around 9 AM by when most of the joggers and serious bird watchers with the telescopic zoom lenses have left. We start the walk with the call and sighting of a White Cheeked Barbet.The barbet is rarely seen outside the thick green foliage of mature trees and it is a rare sighting for us to see it perched on an electric wire. A White Throated Kingfisher flies to its perch - a wall on the edge of the lake and a little egret takes flight, splashing along its liquid runway. We walk towards th...
Read more

European Travelog: D1E1 - Winging it

Image
“Paris is always a good idea.”  - Audrey Hepburn On Summer Solstice day in June 2024, when the world was looking east for the International Day of Yoga, we headed west to Europe.  We had an ambitious plan of conquering Paris in three days,  swinging by the sunny coastal town of Montpellier in South of France,  hopping over to Marseille and then a flight to Rome  where we would see the legacy of the Romans and the Renaissance before heading to Florence to see some of Michelangelo's classics  such as David. We would then come back towards Asia by taking the  morning train from Florence to Rome,  the afternoon flight from Rome to Paris  and the night flight from Paris to New Delhi. The morning flight from Bangalore to Mumbai at 8:30 AM was packed with mostly people heading to Maximum City for a day of business and perhaps try to come back by a late evening flight. We reached Mumbai, crossed Immigration and reached the Vistara gate for our Paris...
Read more

Sikkim - A State of Mind: Day 2

Image
Day Two We're awake at 5:30 AM and it's bright daylight. Our first sight of Sikkim in the daylight shows a land bursting with greenery and flowers.     The valley is shrouded in fog. Occasionally the fog lifts to show glimpses of the mountainside. Everything we see is in  panoramic mode - sweeping hills, rolling clouds and the fog appearing suddenly shrouding the entire landscape in grey. Before we have breakfast, we go for a quick round of birding - there are Mountain Bulbuls, Oriental White Eyes and lots of Mynas. We have a breakfast of Alu Parathas with yogurt and pickle, some toast and marmalade and the teas for which North East India is famous. Our plan for the day is to leave after breakfast for the town of Lachung, in Northern Sikkim. Lachung is the gateway to the Yumthang Valley and Zero Point in Yumesamdong beyond. While it is just 129 km (80 miles) away, the uphill ascent and the bad roads mean that it would take us close to six hours to get ther...
Read more