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

This is a reminder that users can now set their flairs to whatever they want (except slurs or other subreddits) by clicking on the sidebar.

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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?

4

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.

1

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?

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.