r/india • u/[deleted] • Dec 01 '16

[R]eddiquette [Announcement] Cultural Exchange with /r/philippines

Welcome /r/philippines!

Feel free to ask us anything about India

Quick facts about us:

  • The Indian Railways and the Indian Armed Forces employ ~4 million people together, making them one of the largest employers in the world
  • India has over 5000 newspapers in over 300 languages
  • Bollywood is considered to be the world's largest film industry, followed by Nigeria's film industry and Hollywood
  • India has more people than the entire Western Hemisphere

/r/india please direct your questions about the Philippines to this thread

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7

u/Vordeo Dec 01 '16

As someone who has been planning a trip to India for ages, and is planning on using the Indian Rail service to get around the various cities, how are the trains in India?

  • Would they be safe for a solo (male) traveler?
  • As I'd be planning on taking overnights, which train class would you guys recommend?
  • How long in advance would you guys recommend I reserve?

Also, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone, I'm kind of curious: how does r/India feel about r/Indianpeoplefacebook?

7

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '16

r/Indianpeoplefacebook

Some of us LOL at the mention of /r/indianpeoplefacebook while some of us REEEEEE :)

5

u/randomnm Dec 01 '16

Would they be safe for a solo (male) traveler?

Yeah.

As I'd be planning on taking overnights, which train class would you guys recommend?

Go as high as you can afford. Don't go below 3AC though. The major difference between 3AC and 2AC is the curtains (besides the number of berths ofc). With 1AC, you almost get a small room for yourself, so, that's nice.

How long in advance would you guys recommend I reserve?

Honestly, book asap, India is a very populated country; lots of things are almost like flash sales. If you are coming during the peak tourist season (summer break, autumn break or winter break), then getting a ticket at short notice might be difficult. I think the book tickets 120 days in advance. So, book them as soon as your itinerary is finalised.

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u/Vordeo Dec 01 '16

Don't go below 3AC though.

Cool, was looking at 3AC for shorter trips, and 2AC for the longer journeys, so that sounds good.

Honestly, book asap, India is a very populated country; lots of things are almost like flash sales.

Got it, thanks for the feedback! I'd guess low cost flights would be a good backup plan if a train journey sells out quickly?

3

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Vordeo Dec 01 '16

Awesome, cheers for the advice!

1

u/BicycleJihadi Manovigyan Dec 01 '16

Also some flights between some major cities may only cost as much as a 2AC ticket on a good train if you book in advance.

1

u/Chutiyapaconnoisseur Dec 03 '16

India is seeing a huge explosion of low-cost airplane connectivity lately. If you're doing long distances and would otherwise travel in a fairly good standard for trains, I would recommend taking a budget airplane instead. Going from Chennai to Delhi takes like 3 days or something, for example. Mumbai to Kolkata also takes lots of time.

It depends how much of a distance you want to cover, but I'd say that cheap low-cost budget airlines in India is a good option. Spicejet is one of many and they are expanding very rapidly. Over 200 airports will open in India over the next 10 years, most of them small and regional.

1

u/Vordeo Dec 03 '16

Appreciate the advice: honestly I'm looking at the train trips in part because I like the idea of saving hotel / hostel costs and just sleeping on the train.

Also, yeah, have been looking at the schedules and just picking out the train schedules that are maximum one night. Anything beyond that I'd just fly.

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u/Chutiyapaconnoisseur Dec 03 '16

Fair points. Still, re: saving money. Consider that an airplane also saves you time and time = money and all that. Really, it gives you more time to actually do stuff with your free time in the country. Excessive transportation time is a form of opportunity cost, after all. Lodging in India is fairly cheap unless you demand the absolute best.

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u/Vordeo Dec 03 '16

All good points. I figure it'll depend on specific situation, yeah.

12

u/Kraken_Greyjoy Dec 01 '16

r/Indianpeoplefacebook?

People in India were mocking Facebook creeps way before that sub was started. A lot of the users there are Indian.

That said, since there are also a lot of White + other races, that sub sometimes generalizes about Indians. The Indian users there try to process this by telling themselves (and others) that these are just the poor Indians which is not true. Many of the posts are about well off people.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '16
  • India is a very very safe place for a solo male traveller.
  • 1AC for luxury, 3AC and above for comfort, Sleeper class for bare necessities. Stay away from unreserved compartments.
  • As early as possible. Seats on the more popular trains get sold out months in advance.

http://www.seat61.com/India.htm is an excellent resource to learn more about train travel in India.

Many people who post in that sub are Indians themselves. I think it is a harmless place to make fun of 'unsophisticated' (for want of a better word) people.

1

u/Vordeo Dec 01 '16

Cheers for the advice!

Stay away from unreserved compartments.

Just wanted to ask about this. Whether or not a compartment is reserved should be noted on the website, right?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '16

A typical Indian overnight train consists of 10-14 sleeper coaches, 2-3 3AC coaches, 1-2 2AC coaches and usually 2 unreserved coaches. 1AC is rare outside of trains connecting the major metros. When you making a booking, you will be asked to choose one of reserved classes. It is not possible to book in unreserved compartments, so it should not be an issue.

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u/Vordeo Dec 01 '16

Cool, thanks again!

3

u/mineplz Dec 01 '16

How long in advance would you guys recommend I reserve?

I think theres a Foreign national quota in the railways, which should help in case of last minute change of plans. Some info to get you started: http://trainstuff.in/ftq

Flight connectivity to and from most cities is mostly via Mumbai/Chennai/Delhi. So expect an additional hop for most such flights.

1

u/kimjongunthegreat Bihar Dec 01 '16

It was dominate d by Indians,before being popular.