Indian Railway Photography & Stories

[AndrewJin]

Fare wise yes but now a days these are at par with Duronto class trains.
Fare includes meal charges Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, snacks and tea. & its quite a sumptuous affair i can guarantee after having travelled on 3 different Rajdhani expresses.
Evening Tea
View attachment 264077
Lunch/Dinner
Soup course
View attachment 264080 View attachment 264079

Main Course
View attachment 264081
Continental
View attachment 264083
Vegetarian

View attachment 264084
Non Vegetarian
Breakfast
View attachment 264078 View attachment 264082

on First AC accommodation, you can eat as much as you want (obviously the staff believes in pampering passengers on board and do not consider Gluttony as Sin)

In China, no matter 160km/h train or 120km/h train (i mean non-HSR trains), the price per km is the same.
That's quite different from India, different trains have different fare system.
@anant_s Most trains in China won't provide food, u have to buy food in the dining car(every train has). They will also sell boxed meals to different cars, but I seldom taste their food. I generally buy some food in the railway station or bring from home.

 

[anant_s]

In China, no matter 160km/h train or 120km/h train (i mean non-HSR trains), the price per km is the same.
That's quite different from India, different trains have different fare system.

Yes, they charge an additional entity called Superfast charge on faster trains. This is charged over a base fare declared every year for category of accommodation and distance.
For Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto express, meals are inclusive in fare and hence additional charges and service taxes are levied.

 

[AndrewJin]

Yes, they charge an additional entity called Superfast charge on faster trains. This is charged over a base fare declared every year for category of accommodation and distance.
For Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto express, meals are inclusive in fare and hence additional charges and service taxes are levied.

Even the highest class(1/2 bed with sofa and bath inside) won't provide free food.
Only business or VIP class of bullet trains provide some simple meals.

This is the highest class in China's traditional train(private toilet and bath), still NO FOOD!!!

@anant_s
This page introduced a tourism train in China(of course not so luxurious as that Indian palace train)
Relatively luxurious, but still same fare per km!!!
https://defence.pk/threads/chinese-hsr-news-and-information：original-translations.363685/page-35

 

[anant_s]

Even the highest class(1/2 bed with sofa and bath inside) won't provide free food.
Only business or VIP class of bullet trains provide some simple meals.

This is the highest class in China's traditional train(private toilet and bath), still NO FOOD!!!
View attachment 264085

@anant_s
This page introduced a tourism train in China(of course not so luxurious as that Indian palace train)
Relatively luxurious, but still same fare per km!!!
https://defence.pk/threads/chinese-hsr-news-and-information：original-translations.363685/page-35

looks beautiful!

 

[AndrewJin]

looks beautiful!

Too pricey for me.
I'm a hard bed(similar to A/C2 in India) or second class of bullet train type of person.
All lowest class.

 

[Ankit Kumar]

TrainTrackers OHEs & Other Self Propelled Units Gallery Page 1

EMU shunters and more. Its quite fascinating for me as I have next to 0 travel experience outside Ranchi to Patna and Ranchi to Bokaro routes.

 

[anant_s]

Pictures taken last week while returning back from vacations.

A WDS 6 class loco at Ratlam Yard

WAP 5 class loco at Vadodra

WDM 3A loco with crushed stone BOBYN rake.

IR's fastest Passenger loco with most powerful passenger loco wait for evening service.

3 WDG 3A class freight locos. These are called Shakti (Power).

WAG 9 class loco with container rake.

@Ankit Kumar @AndrewJin @Nilgiri @Rain Man @Tridibans

 

[Nilgiri]

I always liked the clean lines of the WAG-9.

Adtranz has a good eye for aesthetic but functional design.

With DFC's coming into fruition finally, we will finally see these beasts capability being unleashed fully for much longer stretches.

 

[AndrewJin]

Pictures taken last week while returning back from vacations.

A WDS 6 class loco at Ratlam Yard
View attachment 284666
WAP 5 class loco at Vadodra
View attachment 284667
WDM 3A loco with crushed stone BOBYN rake.
View attachment 284668
IR's fastest Passenger loco with most powerful passenger loco wait for evening service.
View attachment 284669
3 WDG 3A class freight locos. These are called Shakti (Power).
View attachment 284670
WAG 9 class loco with container rake.
View attachment 284671

@Ankit Kumar @AndrewJin @Nilgiri @Rain Man @Tridibans

Nice photos as usual.

 

[anant_s]

Indian Railways 3 Phase locomotives (WAP 5, WAP 7 and WAG 9)

@Ankit Kumar @Abingdonboy @PARIKRAMA @AndrewJin @Rain Man

 

[nForce]

 

[livingdead]

In China, no matter 160km/h train or 120km/h train (i mean non-HSR trains), the price per km is the same.
That's quite different from India, different trains have different fare system.
@anant_s Most trains in China won't provide food, u have to buy food in the dining car(every train has). They will also sell boxed meals to different cars, but I seldom taste their food. I generally buy some food in the railway station or bring from home.

Rajdhani has food price included in the fare, but most other trains have option of buying food(have onboard pantry). Rajdhani people feed you like your grandmother...

 

[AndrewJin]

Rajdhani has food price included in the fare, but most other trains have option of buying food(have onboard pantry). Rajdhani people feed you like your grandmother...

I have heard of that in some travelogues, it looked very delicious.

It will never happen in China, it'll trigger public debate on "luxury on the public transport".
Years ago, Chinese railway had a plan to introduce luxurious train from Beijing to Lhasa including "grandmother" type of food, vetoed at last because of the anger of the public. So now, even the most luxurious tourist trains in China are priced exactly the same as other normal trains. U either bring your own food(most people do), or eat the boxed meals sold in cars, or go to the dining car to have freshly cooked dishes.

Same with the A/C, a train is either all A/C train or non-A/C train, which means on a same train, beds and seats are provided with same A/C or no A/C at all, same toilets, same boxed meals sold.

 

[livingdead]

I have heard of that in some travelogues, it looked very delicious.

It will never happen in China, it'll trigger public debate on "luxury on the public transport".
Years ago, Chinese railway had a plan to introduce luxurious train from Beijing to Lhasa including "grandmother" type of food, vetoed at last because of the anger of the public. So now, even the most luxurious tourist trains in China are priced exactly the same as other normal trains. U either bring your own food(most people do), or eat the boxed meals sold in cars, or go to the dining car to have freshly cooked dishes.

Same with the A/C, a train is either all A/C train or non-A/C train, which means on a same train, beds and seats are provided with same A/C or no A/C at all, same toilets, same boxed meals sold.

Rajdhani is not a luxury train, its a class of trains that connects state capitals to New Delhi(rajdhani means capital). Even the first class compartments in Indian rail are not 'luxurious' as such. Rajdhani is priced higher because food is included.
Indian rail caters to all types of budget, you can travel in the same train (mumbai to delhi) by paying 500rs, 1500rs, 2200rs and 3800rs, all different classes. The higher class fair usually subsidies lower class ones.
Nobody complains because in real world, you get what you pay.
Vast majority of coaches in IR are non-airconditioned sleeper class.

 

[AndrewJin]

Rajdhani is not a luxury train, its a class of trains that connects state capitals to New Delhi(rajdhani means capital). Even the first class compartments in Indian rail are not 'luxurious' as such. Rajdhani is priced higher because food is included.
Indian rail caters to all types of budget, you can travel in the same train (mumbai to delhi) by paying 500rs, 1500rs, 2200rs and 3800rs, all different classes. The higher class fair usually subsidies lower class ones.
Nobody complains because in real world, you get what you pay.
Vast majority of coaches in IR are non-airconditioned sleeper class.

I know it's not a luxury train.
But some classes like 1A/C and 2A/C in India are not for the majority, 1A/C is even more expensive than China, 2A/C quite similar.
The case in China is different, 1-2A/C now is considered middle-low-end, the majority are choosing HSR and planes.
HSR accounts for 60% of all trains. No matter what kind of class on slow trains, all need subsidy.

If we add food in the prices, it might increase by 10% but ticket prices for slow trains remain the same for 2 decades. Any changes of slow train prices will be very sensitive issues since slow trains have become the major transport for the poor.