Train Varanasi-Gaya-Calcutta dangerous?

Who travelled from Varanasi to Calcutta by train? We don't know if it safe to do this (but do we have any choice?). We read so many stories about how dangereous this traject is. You must either go through Mughalsarai or through Patna and exactly these 2 are known as the most dangereous train routes! How did other people do this? We were also thinking to go from Varanasi to Bodgaya and then further to Calcutta but then exactly you will have to take one of the 2 most dangereous routes: Mughalsarai - Gaya or Patna - Gaya. Boghgaya is a famous place, many people go there. How do people do this? I am looking forward to your messages!

Hi
your post have many questions and I will try to separate them and answer

Varanasi Kolkata - plenty of train available from Mughalsarai to Howrah/Sealdah stations of Calcutta (Kolkata). Assuming you will travel by A/C coach the journey is very safe. I have myself travelled regularly in that route for two years and it is safe. ?You don't need to go to Patna to catch train to Calcutta. Some good trains are Rajdhani Express, Poorva Express, Kalka Mail, Chambal/Shipra Express etc. Mughalsarai has plenty of quota in all these trains. Mughalsarai is the busiest railway junction in India and it is busy 24 hours.

Varanasi-Gaya - you will get train for Gaya from Mughalsarai..in fact all the above mentioned trains pass thru Gaya. I have never visited Gaya myself, but since it falls in the Budhist circuit and is visited my huge number of foreign tourists, it should be okay if you take common precautions.

look at the bottom of the screen an dyou will find list of related threads which will be helful.

I think the only common caution is to not travel by night between Gaya and Bodhgaya, because of banditry in the area. From or to Patna, the same might apply, I'm not sure; it's a problem in much of Bihar, or so they say.

Otherwise, I'm not aware it should be any sort of deal. (In Bihar itself though, for the same reasons it might pay to opt for one of the higher train classes. You'll probably get a guard on board, or at least at night. I reckon but can't be sure you'd get one or several in Sleeper Class even, I've had them on other such trains. But so anyway maybe it's wise to go for a class higher than Sleeper in this area.) I've also never heard Mughalsarai to be dangerous; it is indeed a very busy major railway junction, the largest in India I believe.

I've traveled that route (roughly, and excluding Bihar) twice in Sleeper Class, no problem at all, but this was arguably some time ago. I can't really imagine things to have deteriorated all that much though, that's not what one hears either. A thing on these major routes (notably the main tourist ones out of Delhi, e.g., to Varanasi and Jaisalmer and the likes, and this could well include Varanasi-Kolkata) is you might want to be a little extra wary of so-called "biscuit bandits," people who slip you a snack or drink to drug and rob you. I wouldn't get completely paranoid over this, to share what one has is a common cultural trait, it will usually be well-meant. You can just politely refuse if you don't feel like it.

Other than that, like Khak I don't think it should be any sort of problem.

I was going to suggest much the same advice at machadinha - go for the 2A or 3A carriages in any of Bihar.

If someone causes offence or affront on a train, be careful what you do - there is a great degree of lawlessness there.

As far as the sleeper coaches go, I have heard that often, people pull the emergency stop rope, to have the train stop close to their homes, so they can jump off the train, instead of having to walk a longer distance from the station.

And also agree with the sharing of food - if a family offer you something, it's probably OK but use common sense. Don't just throw caution to the wind & accept just anything from anyone.

Cheers
Zoltan

btw I was thinking later the only reason I can think of for M'sarai being possibly said to be dangerous is because of its connection to and from Varanasi, for which it serves as the major railhead (something like a half-hour's rickshaw ride away I reckon, maybe a little longer).

I can't tell you how it is today, but the way I remember it if you do this route and esp. by night, the station is probably huge and intimidating, I actually don't remember it. The road to Varanasi is again big and very busy, and you may find yourself in some dodgy rickshaw speeding along here amidst the trucks and whatnot, not at all sure where you're going. Getting to Varanasi and esp. Dasaswamedh Ghat and surroundings (in the Old City near the river and the burning ghats, where most backpackers will stay), motorized vehicles aren't even allowed here (and except for the few main roads no vehicle of any kind will pass through the alleys anyway), although the boundaries of this never seemed very clear; in any case you'll probably be unceremoniously dumped here and wondering if this wasn't a trick, and consequently besieged by bicycle rickshaw and other touts, while trying to find your bearings and hopelessly looking for that hotel you heard about in one of the myriad labyrinthine alleys here, with everyone you ask about it sending you in a different direction of course.

In short (and going the other way around, to Mughalsarai, as well), the whole process can be somewhat intimidating; but dangerous, no, I wouldn't say so, at all, and not that I recall.

(And note that if you don't stay in the Old City, you're unlikely to experience much of any of this, certainly not the hasslesome welcome to Varanasi bit. The city proper, just a little further to the west and there are plenty of people who stay here, is like you'd expect any major Indian city to be really.)

It may bear repeating that, while I found Varanasi to be perfectly safe on a lengthier stay and really enjoyed myself there, wandering around on my own by night too, a number of tourists are reported to go missing there each year, or so it was until fairly recently when I last heard of it. Whether they ventured into business they shouldn't have or just met with ill fortune is anyone's guess. Just keep your street smarts about you, and in any case and again I don't think this would reflect on its train stations being safe or not. I must have used several there and found them no other than any Indian station.

There are really two issues here.
First - Varanasi seems to be a favoured target for terrorist attacks.
When I travelled from Kolkata to Delhi in March this year there was a security alert as messages had been intercepted which seemed to suggest that an attack on trains serving Varanasi was imminent.
I travelled on the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani. The train was checked with sniffer dogs and security personnel travelled on the train and guarded it at all the stops as far as Varanasi.
There were no incidents.The security personnel were thorough , remained alert, and avoided any heavy handedness - an excellent job.

Secondly there is the risk of robbery by dacoits in the area between Varanasi and Orissa/West Bengal.
Incidents do occur. Your best strategy is to travel by day only.If on a train and travelling overnight ,travel by AC class as the doors of the carriage are kept closed between stations.
If you arrive at Gaya in the hours of darkness wait in the 1st class waiting room (you are entitled to do this as long as you travelled on an AC class ticket) until daylight before continuing to Bodhgaya.

Incidents do occur but you'll have to be very unlucky to be caught up in one especially if you take sensible precautions.

Dear cecile109,

Who travelled from Varanasi to Calcutta by train?

##Would you like to visit Gaya (or) straightaway proceed to Calcutta from Varanasi?

Hi,What kind person can help me with information? I will be arriving in Kolkata on the early morning of December 5th 09. I need to get to Bodh Gaya as quickly as possible. I would like to arrive there the same day.I get complete confused by the Indian Rail network, the websites seem to give conflicting information. Can i get a train from Kolkata to Gaya leaving about, say, 9 a.m? I believe that this would arrive between 4 and 5 in the afternoon, giving me time to get to Gaya before nightfall. Can anyone advise me please. Regards Kevin

Have a look at http://erail.in?T=HWH::GAYA:. Take a note of trains' running days. Note these trains depart from either Howrah or Sealdah (and one from Kolkata, a station I don't know), these are different Kolkata train stations. Those two are both fairly central.

Note this is not an official site; you should check results with/through the official (but less user-friendly) one at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/ to minimize possible disappointment.

can we foreigners buy etickets from the official indian railway site????As far as i remember a year ago was not possible.Has the Indian Railways changed its policy on this???

I'm pretty certain you can, yes. What you still can't get is tickets on the Foreigner Quota; those have to be bought in India itself.

Dear Kevin,

I will be arriving in Kolkata on the early morning of December 5th 09. I need to get to Bodh Gaya as quickly as possible. I would like to arrive there the same day.

##5th December is Saturday, and hence 2381 (**a very good direct train to Gaya in the morning time) DO NOT runs.

(...contd....)

but only the following trains are available, at the time(s) indicated:

2307/HOWRAH JN.23:30/GAYA.06:15
2311/HOWRAH JN.19:40/GAYA.02:55
2321/HOWRAH JN.22:00/GAYA.05:25
2987/SEALDAH...23:20/GAYA.06:32
3023/HOWRAH JN.19:50/GAYA.11:55
9306/HOWRAH JN.17:40/GAYA.01:20
2301/HOWRAH JN.16.45/GAYA.22.19..RAJDHANI
.............................. ...

##I am aware the above trains will make you to 'halt' in Howrah Station, for quite a long duration.

##But, of all the above trains, 2301 should help you, provided your accomodation in Gaya is ensured before your arrival.

Dear Kevin,

##I do NOT know whether you will be able to travel by train for a distance of 271KIms. and the balance 187Kms. by Road.

##Please look at this:
--------
3317 BLACKDIAMOND EX 17/09/2009 HOWRAH JN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

SNo Stn Code Stn Name Route No. Arrival Time Dep. Time Distance Day Remark
1 HWH HOWRAH JN 1 Source 06:15 0 1
2 SHE SEORAPHULI 1 06:38 06:39 23 1
3 BDC BANDEL JN 1 07:00 07:02 40 1
4 BWN BARDDHAMAN JN 1 08:00 08:03 107 1
5 MNAE MANKAR 1 08:29 08:30 145 1
6 PAN PANAGARH 1 08:39 08:40 155 1
7 DGR DURGAPUR 1 08:55 08:57 171 1
8 OYR WARIA 1 09:04 09:05 179 1
9 UDL ANDAL JN 1 09:13 09:14 187 1
10 RNG RANIGANJ 1 09:21 09:22 194 1
11 ASN ASANSOL JN 1 09:47 09:50 213 1
12 STN SITARAMPUR 1 10:02 10:03 222 1
13 ULT KULTI 1 10:09 10:10 227 1
14 BRR BARAKAR 1 10:15 10:16 230 1
15 KMME KUMARDUBI 1 10:20 10:21 232 1
16 DHN DHANBAD JN 1 11:10 Destination 271 1
-----------------------------------------------

##Here again, the problem is whether you can reach Howrah Railway Station atleast by 5.45 hrs., so that you can board this train.

##It is learnt the Calcutta Airport is quite far from Howrah Station, say, about 40 Kms.

##Perhaps, it should be fine, if you can plan to start from Howrah by 2301 Rajdhani Express, even if it meant waiting in Howrah Railway Station.

Sincerest thanks Machhadinha, Pantelis and Vsp27759, for you kind and informative replies. I am sorry for the double posting. I was unable to find the first post in the technical jungle and thought that it had probably not been uploaded. As I learn more about the site, I see how it works better.

On additional point, if I may. Has anyone any suggestions as to how an old man with his bags can pass a day in Kolkata, waiting for a train? I would probably need to pass 4 to 5 hours. I would like to be somewhere safe and comfortable. I suppose I could check into a hotel near the station (Howrah) just for the day time, if there is one suitable and not too expensive. Otherwise there is probably a first class waiting room at the station, which would be safe but boring (although I find that, getting into conversation with interesting people is very easy in India). I don’t want to explore Kolkata because I have left time to do that on the way back. Do you think that they have a Starbucks at the station? (Or has India not been cursed with these yet?). Does anyone have any helpful suggestions?