Is train travel safe & easy?

Comet61

I'm a newbie, so sorry if my questions have been asked/answered before. My wife and I would like to travel from Amritsar to Agra by train in Dec'09 but have received conflicting information. 1) Is it easy for non-Indians to book (confirmed&definite)seats in 1st class in India? Where's the best place to buy tickets? Can we book 2-3 days ahead for this trip? 2) Is it true we have to chain & padlock our suitcases to the luggage racks on all trains? 3) Can we book a lockable compartment just for 2 on this journey? 4) Is the train service Amritsar-Agra fairly reliable/on-time? How long does it take?

ribhu95

1. You can book tickets on irctc.co.in........There are possibly other sites as well.

2. Depends on availability.......Typically, several trains run full and delaying the books means you run risk of not getting tickets....best is to track availability for trains / dates and then decide.

3. Not required in day trains.......Recommended to do in night trains......Sometimes lift and scoot robbers pick up whatever comes to their hand and run.

4. Might be possible in A/c 1st class..........A/c 1st class fares are almost the same as full fares in flights.

5. Regarding trains on time, Indian railways treats all customers and routes with consistently......Several times trains on time. Sometimes trains get delayed - from a few minutes to several hours...However, cannot be pointed to one train or the other....

Ribhu

vonkla

On this sub-forum http://www.indiamike.com/india/indian-railways-f10/ you find the answer on a lot of your questions.

For trains and classes between Amritsar and Agra look at this Amritsar Agra

For overnight trains we always take 2AC and never chained our luggage.

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Nick-H

Is train travel safe & easy?

Yes, and Yes.


But not on a just-turn-up basis. Book in advance.

Possibly more on this site about trains in India than any other subject: please, as suggested, go look in the Railways forum.

It is made even easier for you with some items in the Articles section. Try these for starters:

A Guide to the India Railway System and the Indian Train

Indian Railways RAC and Waitlists concepts explained

Do not expect anyone to re-write the beginners' guide for you --- when these things are easily available.

Welcome to the site, enjoy, and feel feel to ask any specific questions you are left with after using the site's search facility

Of course... you should also feel free to add your experiences to the collection here

LunavadaLad

Train Train Name_______travel time
1058 ASR DR EXPRESS__16.20
2716 ASR NED EXPRESS 10.55
8238 CHHATISGARH EXP 16.55
8508 HIRAKUND EXP____11.35
9326 ASR INDB EXPRES__12.00

These trains do not have first class carriages (1A)
It is not possible to book a two berth compartment for 1A on any train.

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