Means of transportation in India

How do I get from A to B in India? Traveling as a packer in India is pretty straightforward with trains, buses and cabs. I was amazed at how well and how spontaneously you can make progress. If there is no train, or your train is full, there are buses, if you are too comfortable there is Intercity Uber. So you can always get where you want to go on the day you want. Unless the bus doesn’t come.

Train 🚂

Train rides in India are the most beautiful means of transportation for me. I sleep better than on the bus and you can move around and go to the toilet when you want or smoke secretly between the carriages. There are an astonishing number of connections, far more than I thought. The compartments in the upper classes are air-conditioned and food is sold. Practically all compartments are designed as seating and sleeping cars. This means that if you fold the seats up or down. you can lie down and sit the other way around. There are different sized compartments depending on the train and class. Mostly there are compartments for 4 to 6 people, but there are also a few compartments for 2 people.

IRCTC

Let’s start at the beginning. Every train journey runs via Indian Railways, known as IRCTC. No matter where you book online, at some point you will have to log in to IRCTC. To open an account you have to verify yourself via email and SMS with a so-called OTP, which I did not receive. Only when I entered an Indian phone number from a friend did the shipping work. This leads to the problem that you may not be able to book trains in advance until you are in India. Depending on the season, this makes a lot of sense, for example at the beginning of November during Diwali. Many people are traveling in India. I booked our trains 2 months in advance during this period. Many trains are full, especially between large cities.

Theoretically, you can book directly via IRCTC. But the site is confusing and I don’t know if international credit cards are accepted.

Chart

When booking, you will see an indication of availability for each class. This will determine whether you have a chance of getting your ticket. The chart will be published punctually 4 hours before departure, then you will receive an SMS with the information if you were on a waiting list. The apps sometimes only have this information later, so make sure you enter your Indian phone number.

Some trains run through half of India. Some may only want to drive one station, others from A-Z, 30 hours at a time. I imagine that tickets for longer journeys have a better waiting list than tickets for shorter journeys.

From my experience, if you are WL/GNWL ranked 1-4 it should work. If you are over it and there is a lot going on, your ticket will probably be canceled. The stupid thing is that you only find out 4 hours before departure. The good thing is that you get the full amount back. Apps like MakeMyTrip then automatically transfer this back to you.

Tatkal

The Tatkal program is a kind of offline ticket reservation which reserves a certain number of tickets per train and class for offline ticket purchases. I suspect this is so as not to disadvantage people without smartphones in India. This ticket sale starts on the date before departure at 10am. It is theoretically possible to buy these tickets on site.
All unsold tickets will then be distributed to the online waiting list.

There is the possibility to buy Tatkal tickets in certain apps, these are a bit more expensive, I assume the app provider then sends someone to the counter before the departure date to reserve the ticket. There are also hotels or agencies that offer Tatkal service. However, there is a risk of receiving a rejection the day before.

Classes

There are always AC and non-AC classes. Within this, higher and lower ones. Highest class 1A, followed by 2A and 3A. Often also written 1st AC etc. This is followed by various classes such as non-AC or sleeper. As a rule, there is one 1A trolley and perhaps two 2A trolleys. These fill up quickly and are best booked as early as possible. 1-2 A classes are comfortable. There are pillows, bed linen, tinted windows, air conditioning (often far too cold), you can even lock the door. There are some 2-seater compartments and several 4-seater compartments and most 6-seater compartments. If you book class 1A, every train looks slightly different.

Prices

The prices naturally vary for the classes. My tickets for class 1A were between 1000₹ and 3000₹ which is about 10-30€ for a 6-10 hour ride. For the lowest class it costs just a few hundred rupees. It is 18 hours from Delhi to Mumbai. and a price of 5000₹ in 1st class and 600₹ in a non-AC Sleeper. so about 10 times less. I always paid a little less on the bus than on the train 1st class for the same route.

Every train ticket can also be canceled without any problems, you will be refunded all but a few rupees. I meant the deadline for canceling is 24 hours before departure. This way you can reserve a ticket and then see if it fits later. Some people are sure to do this, which is why many places on the waiting list become available.

Food

Staff usually come by with tea, bottles of water, potato chips and snacks. On longer journeys you will be asked for dinner and breakfast. This food always costs extra and is slightly more expensive than average, and not particularly good. I usually ate beforehand and took snacks with me and then ate again on arrival. If you’re traveling for 24 hours or longer, you’ll probably eat on the train 🍛 I think the hygienic conditions are similar to any street food stall. You can find more tips for train travel in India in our packing list.

Bus 🚌

The bus is a very inexpensive and equally pleasant means of transportation in India. Sleeper buses in particular have 1 and 2-seater cabins for sleeping, which is okay.
⚠️ If you are over 175 cm tall, you will not be able to stretch your legs. If you are traveling with a smaller companion, you can lie down in a 2-person cabin. But it wasn’t really comfortable for me and I’m 180cm.
If your size doesn’t keep you from sleeping, the potholes and bumps probably will. It rocks quite violently and spits you around. But you can look out of the window while lying down.

In a sleeper, there is almost always a single row on the left and a double row on the right. The whole thing then below and above. In addition, double cabins are separated by color for men and women when booking so that women traveling alone do not end up in a double cabin with a man. Forget about Wifi and be happy if your socket works.

The stops are few and far between and cleanliness is critical for me. The bus stations are also often very strange areas. On my trip, I had a stop in Bangalore, completely off the beaten track, which I could only find by asking several times and was unsure for a long time whether a bus would stop here at all. So don’t come too close, your bus may not leave directly from the bus station.

Now the big question: top or bottom? Front or rear?
In my case, I would always choose the top front. The reason is that upstairs you are a bit more to yourself, I have also seen glass partitions upstairs and only curtains downstairs. At the front, because you can get out faster. The corridor is often congested during breaks.

Cab 🚕

Cabs are cabs like everywhere else. Annoying.

Uber

Uber is my favorite in many cases within a city. Of course, you can also just walk along the road and stop a TucTuc, but often the discussion starts about the destination, which the drivers don’t know, and then the negotiation about the price. If you need a break, you can simply book an Uber, TucTuc (here car) and motorcycles are also in the app. The rides are a bit more expensive than with a taximeter, but you can chill out. Cash payments and tipping are also possible with Uber. More about the Uber app here.

Unfortunately, Uber is only available in 7-8 of the largest cities. Longer journeys are also possible without any problems. I took an Uber for about 4 hours around Mumbai. As a group, you can take an Uber XL (6 seats) with 5 people and backpacks, which of course makes it even cheaper. Unfortunately, there is no Uber in Goa.

TucTuc 🛺

TucTuc or “Auto” are available everywhere in India. In the cities usually very advantageous, in the countryside or in the mountains often a mafia who agree the prices among themselves and know that you are dependent on them. In Hampi there is a real mafia, which even prevents scooter rentals. After 22:00 at night, TucTucs cost twice as much as the speedometer shows. If your driver suggests a flat rate because the fare is double at night, take the double taximeter fare anyway 🙂. It won’t cost you much. As a rule, you can get quite far in a city with 23₹, the starting rate.

Scooter 🛵

Scooters are actually always worthwhile. Whether by the sea or in Hampi, it gives you much more freedom and also saves money on daily excursions. Scooters cost between 400-500₹ per day + gasoline. A liter of gasoline costs 120₹. Remember that you drive on the left here. If you have driven a TucTuc a few times, you can learn the little rules and behaviors and then the changeover works well.