Electricity supply on Trains

LunavadaLad

I am looking for some info about electricity on trains in India. I have sleep apnea so use a machine to assist with sleep at night. From my research I believe there are outlets/sockets in 2A and 1A. I intend to travel on a couple of overnight trains in 2A so was wondering if anyone knows how reliable the supply is and will 2A be ok or do I need 1A. My machime runs on 100–240V, 50/60Hz; 110V, 400Hz; 2.5A. Also would I be better of buying an adaptor at home or in India.

Thanks

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tacita

hello, luna. welcome to indiamike.

my train experience is limited - a sample of one overnight ride on the darjeeling-to-kolkata route - but for what it's worth, i had NO electrical outlet in my 1AC compartment.

i'm deaf, so rely on a vibrating alarm clock. this can impose limitations on my travel - albeit less dangerous - similar to what i imagine yours to be. also, i need to recharge the batteries for my cochlear implant every night. (before acquiring a battery-powered vibrating alarm clock, i relied on some trips on hotel staff to wake me - made for some funny incidents. but i digress...)

are battery-powered versions available for your gadget? that might solve the train problem, but i assume you've already considered that. as a general rule, i found electrical outlets limited in hotels, and devoted an inordinate amount of time during me recent 2-week trip to planning, timing, AND prioritizing my electrical needs.

as for an adaptor, i would encourage you to buy one from home so you are ready to roll when you get there. i found accomplishing small shopping tasks daunting in the the first few days. no point arriving with your a first priority being getting your electrical needs in order. adapters are cheaper there, yes, but are cheap enough elsewhere too. i brought two AND a bunch of 2-prong european adaptors, which are alleged to be universal. they are and they aren't. in some rooms they worked; in others, they just fell out of the sockets.

hope this helps. i'm sure the train experts will be along soon to offer more.

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icetea

Yes there are sockets on some trains & classes, that's for sure (we used them once). But I can't remember what class it was...it surely wasn't 1AC though. Janice I'm surprised that there weren't any on that train!

tacita

i was pretty surprised as well, as i had counted on access. i and my (more experienced) cabin mates scoured the compartment, to no avail. it was a sadly dilapidated compartment in general, however. perfectly adequate, but not as nice as i had expected. fortunately, it also wasn't as cold as i'd been told to anticipate.

capt_mahajan

Compartments differ, and older ones may be used for 'less important' trains. 1AC in say, one of the Rajdhani's (trains which connect Delhi, Rajdhani meaning "the Capital" in Hindi) will have a socket. I have seen them.

And a sink.

tacita

that's was the other disappointment, captain - no sink! (maybe i should move this post?) i guess i was on one of the older, "less important" trains. but inasmuch as my 3 bunkmates were men, i wouldn't have been able to...um..."use" the sink anyway. i did, btw, for reasons that will escape rational, intelligent and mature readers, take a photograph of every single toilet i used on my trip. i had a folder on my laptop entitled "toilets i have known." after one too many people viewing my photos on the road expressed entirely reasonable negative surprise at this, i changed the name to the "places i have known." just our little secret, dontcha know.

icetea

So I guess only the ticketing agent or another local might be able to tell you, LunavadaLad, if a specific train is likely to have sockets or not, because as you see it depends not just on class...it depends on the train/route as well.

cyberhippie

There are sometimes sockets near the toilets in AC class carriages

Nattusbs

I traveled AC Chair Car from Delhi to Kanpur Sept 2005. To my pleasant surprise I found electrical outlets next to the seat where I could plug in the AC adapter of my laptop.

Cheers

Nattusbs

steven_ber

So, if only the newer trains, can we assume the following have an electricity supply?

Rajdhani
Shatabdi
Jan Shatabdi
Sampark Kranti
Garib Rath


Janice

I'm very surprised to hear of the state of First Class (AC) on the Darjeeling Mail, I though tthis was one of the trains the railways looked after.

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cyberhippie

Steven the sockets I seen weren't on any of the premium trains you mention just an express. Looked like they had been fitted after the carriage had been built!!

capt_mahajan

Recently there has been talk of wireless internet connectivity on (some?) trains too

icetea

I think I was on a Chennai - Trivandrum route when I saw&used the sockets, probably 2AC.

crvlvr

sometimes, newer, a/c, near the toilets, may be is what I have read so far. In my experience, I have never found a working electrical socket on an Indian train. If your life depends on this power supply, don't count on it. Take a plane instead.

federica

If there are any, they must have been added recently. I remeber a trip from Bombay to Trivandrum in 3AC looking for a place to charge my mobile. Nothing. Even in 2AC there was nothing...