Indian Train Hacks : Travel cheap in India Part 2

India is very big country; railway covers almost every part of the country. Indian Railways is world’s largest employer. If the tracks of Indian railways were to be laid out, they would circle the earth almost 1.5 times. The longest running train covers a distance of 4273 km between Dibrugarh and Kanyakumari: It’s called the Vivek Express. 2.5 crore Indians travel in train every day. Some quick India train hacks to get best out of 161-year-old system. To travel cheap in India, you need to take advantage of largest travel network of most populated country. So keep reading India Train Hacks.

1. Last Minute Train Booking: During last minute ticket booking, you will not get direct train. So train hack for that situation is try to find 2-tier city where you can change train. For example: you want to go from Bangalore to Guwahati, which are 3000km apart. You will not get tickets to Guwahati even if you try before a month. Now find the exchange point. Bangalore train goes through Vijayawada, Vizag, and Bhubaneswar; try for tickets to and from these cities to your destination.

2. Storing extra Luggage: All major railway station has cloakroom where you can keep your extra luggage. Rates are cheaper. You can carry blanket, bed sheet and pillow for long journey; keep these luggages in cloakroom, as you don’t need this stuff in lodge room. We stored our extra luggage in New Jalpaiguri, took it after five days when we came back from Bhutan trip.

3. Purchase ticket from TC: You have boarded train but you have ticket only for half way, you don’t have to get down to buy ticket. Just buy from TT.

4. Prefer Upper berth: If you got seat in upper berth, you can sleep whenever you want or you can sit in lower berth to enjoy the view. If you have lower berth, you have to share it with middle berth and vice versa. Always avoid side lower berth as it is having hollow in the centre of the seat. Upper berth are best place to escape from non-sense of beggars, transgender etc.

5. Bags and Valuable items safety: Always use two-bag system. Keep your valuable items like phone, ID card, debit card, wallet etc. in small bag and keep that with while sleeping. 

6. Eye blinds and Earplugs are a game changer. Buy good pair of eye blinds and the best earplugs 

7. Waiting rooms: Railway station have decent waiting rooms so use the place to take bath and for getting fresh. If you are low on budget, you can sleep in waiting rooms.

8. Refund: If your train reach destination with lot of delay, apply for refund.

9. Tatkal Ticket Booking: Keep your payment mode details ready

10. Hiring Taxi: Never take a taxi from the airport or Rail Station. Walk down to the main road and you will find taxis for less than half the price. Hire 'running taxis' i.e. taxis on the go.

I hope these Indian train hacks are useful to you. If you know any good Indian train hack, please add in comment. For more detailed travel hacks and tips, read my book Travel Cheap In India