Indian Railways is a complex system serving millions of people every day. Every state and city of the country is connected with trains. Do you know that Indian Railways is the largest network in the world? You would not be surprised to know that there are numerous types of trains in India.
Top trains of the country are as follows.
1. Luxury Trains
These were models or refurbished versions of ancient royal trains used by the kings of India. The saloons of these trains are fitted with luxurious amenities like TV, phone, attached bathroom,mini-bars and others. Apart from saloon, you will find many other facilities like restaurant, bar, spa, fitness car, lounge room and others. These train have limited seats and run through specific destinations, with halt at each destination for excursion. Know more about the 5 Best Luxury Train Journey for your Next India Trip.
Do you want to enjoy India in luxury trains? Top most luxury trains are:
- Maharajas’ Express
- Palace on Wheels
- Deccan Odyssey
2. Toy Train
Toy trains are the trains that operate in high altitude destinations. For technical reasons, the size and speed of these trains are kept at lower end. These trains are famous for the aesthetic beauty of the route. Very famous toy trains are Nilgiri mountain highway and Darjeeling Himalayan railway. Ride in these trains are considered as an important tourist attraction. Some of these toy trains can be hired entirely for hosting ceremonies or themed weddings.
3. Duronto Express
This is the name given to the type of trains which serve long distance route, non-stop. They have an iconic yellow-green color and connects major state capitals. These trains are faster than Shatabdi Express and Rajdhani Express. Duronto is a Bengali word for restless. Passengers are given complimentary meals during the trip.
4. Super Fast Train
It is also called as Mail train or Express train. Untrue to the name, this train is not the fastest train in the country. It runs at 55 km per hour, excluding halt. Common super fast trains of the country are Brahmaputra Mail, Avadh Assam Express, Prayag Raj Express and others.
5. Mail Express Train
These trains run at slow speed at the tail ends and at express speed whenever there is an overlapping train service. Average speed of this train is higher than 36 km per hour.
6. Rajdhani Express
This is the name given to a group of Express train connecting the capital to numerous other destinations. The term ‘Rajdhani’ means capital. It is one of the fastest trains in the country. The entire train is air-conditioned and tourists are served with complimentary meals inside the train.
As of now, there are 22 Rajdhani Express trains in the country. These trains have very few stops before the end destination. Find the 10 Best Trains from Delhi To Agra to See Taj Mahal.
7. Shatabdi Express
It is a series of fast moving trains connecting major cities of the country. These are day-trains, which get back to the origin station by the end of the day. These trains run only short and medium distances and have only seat, not berths. The first class cars are air-conditioned. These trains have better quality and standard that many of the other trains of the country.
8. Jan Shatabdi Express
This train is quite similar to Shatabdi Express, but affordable to common people. They have both AC and non-AC cars. ‘Jan’means common people. There are no catering services in this train. Speed of the train is quite similar to Shatabdi Express.
9. Antyodaya Express
These trains have unreserved coaches (first come first serve). These are usually overnight trains and are operated in the common peak routes. Although unreserved, these trains have many modern amenities like charging station, bio toilets, smoke alarm, CCTV, water vending machine, braille indicator, coat hangers and others.
10. Humsafar Express
This is a newer version of trains in India.These are fully air conditioned trains with many amenities like GPS passenger info system, smoke and fire alarm, CCTV, suppression system, announcement system, charging points, braille display, fire retardant curtains and others. The lower side berth of this train have better cushion. These trains have vending machines for soup, tea, coffee and others.
11. Garib Rath Express
Garib Rath can be translated as ‘poor man’s chariot’. This is an air-conditioned train with fare less than 2/3rd of normal trains. The legroom of the train is quite less and the walkway is narrow. Only cars are available in this train and the maximum speed of the train is 130 km per hour.
12. Tejas Express
Tejas Express runs between specific destinations at 130 km per hour. They are high-speed trains with numerous amenities like Wi-Fi facilities, automatic doors, LCD screen, snack tables, coffee vending machine, magazine and others. These trains even have hand dryers, touch-less water taps, bio-vacuum toilets and others. These trains cost more than 20% of Shatabdi Express and are slightly faster than the same. Tejas Express Offers Luxury Train Travel from Chennai And Madurai.
13. Mahaparinirvan Express
As the name indicates, this train is a Buddhist pilgrimage train provided by IRCTC. This train covers a pre-determined route covering many Buddhist pilgrimage sites in North India. Top destinations covered in this spiritual tour are Kushinagar, Sarnath, Bodhgaya and others.The train provides just the basic amenities. Apart from this, there are numerous religious circuit trains operated by IRCTC during specific months. Know more about the Ramayana Express Trains for Madurai, Rajkot and Jaipur.
14. Vivek Express
This is the train covering the longest route of the country and the 9th longest train route of the world. There are four such trains in the country. Didrugarh to Kanyakumari route is the longest one. Others are Bandra Terminus Jammu Tawi, Santragachhi to Mangalore Central and Okha to Thoothukudi.
15. Metro and Monorails
These are intra-city trains. The metro trains run underground and it is one of the easiest ways to commute in metropolitan cities and capitals, where road traffic is jam-packed, always. Monorails are super-fast trains serving only in a handful of destinations in India for intra-city transportation, as of now. Apart from these, there are also the old-school electric trains scaling the cities from one end to another.
Are you planning to enjoy a train ride in India? Most of the busy routes will have trains booked even months ahead of time. So, pre-book accordingly. Also, try to commute through intra-city trains at least once during your travel to enjoy the culture of the land.
Further Read:
- Train 18 – Interesting Things About India’s Fastest Train
- Booking Train Tickets for Travel in India -All You Need To Know
- The Changing Face of the Indian Railways
- Luxury Train Journeys in India to Become Cheaper
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