Breakfast in the elegant dining car of the Golden Chariot in India
Planes, trains and rickshaws
Thomas E. King climbs onto an elephant, lazes in a regal train and is chauffeur-driven around India for an overview of this burgeoning nation’s transport options.
Many years ago, I made my first visit to Amber, a princely fort-palace just outside Jaipur, capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was a hot day in this desert city and instead of walking up the slope to the stunning hillside-sited fortress I decided to hail a taxi, expecting that a driver in a black, Indian-built Ambassador car would arrive. Instead, a coal-black elephant adorned with a multicoloured cape steered by a mahout in a yellow turban responded to the call.
In a country as diverse as India, there are many ways to get from A to B. While these extend beyond conventional flights and rail services, such modes of transport are the most popular with visitors.
On board Rajasthan's famous Palace on Wheels
India has one of the biggest domestic airline networks in the world. Indian Airlines operates hundreds of flights a day, connecting nearly 80 Indian cities and linking regional India with neighbouring countries and beyond. Air travel is so popular that it’s essential to book tickets in advance, and to reconfirm onward reservations.
Indian Airlines has an unlimited air-travel bargain that’s popular with foreign visitors. For 22,000 Indian rupees (AU$595), tourists can purchase a Discover India ticket, enabling the holder to fly on up to seven domestic sectors over a period of seven days. Similar tickets can also be issued with validities of 15 days (33,000 rupees; AU$889) and 21 days (44,000 rupees; AU$1,185) and are available from authorised agents throughout the world, including Australia.
Another air-travel bargain is the 16,500-rupee (AU$444), seven-day India Wonder fare, limited to economy air travel within a particular region: northern, western southern or eastern India. Youth fares are also available: persons aged between 12 and 30 years and residing abroad are eligible for 25 per cent discounts off standard fares on domestic sectors operated by Indian Airlines, including the India-Nepal sector.
Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Kingfisher are full-service carriers operating domestic and international flights. Low-cost carriers include Spice Jet, Go Air, Indigo, Deccan Airlines, JetLite (formerly Air Sahara) and Air India Express. Many of these carriers have periodic travel bargains, so check their websites for special deals.
Houseboats in Kerala provide accommodation and transport
While air travel is undoubtedly quick, I truly enjoy slower forms of transit – such as riding the rails. The Indian railway system is one of the largest in the world. From humble beginnings in April 1853, when the first train pulled out of Bombay, Indian Railways has grown to gargantuan proportions, now carrying some 17 million people on 7,000-plus passenger trains and hauling more than two million tonnes of freight a day.
India has around 7,000 stations with names as short as Ib (in Orissa) and as tongue-twistingly long as Sri Venkatanarasimharajuvariapeta (in Tamil Nadu) and a vast network of tracks spanning 63,028 kilometres, with 1,100 kilometres of new lines planned. India has its own locomotive and coach manufacturing units and is one of only a few countries in the world where steam trains still operate regular services.
Because of the popularity of domestic rail travel, tourists must make advance bookings. Fortunately, there is a foreign tourist quota on most trains, and reservations can be made online through Indian Railways’ website.
Modern taxis pass a Kolkata shopping centre
Indian Railways offers an excellent bargain rail pass that’s similar to Europe’s Eurail Pass. For seven days’ unlimited travel, adult prices start from AU$107 in non-air-conditioned, second-class carriages. Indrail Passes with validities from half a day up to 90 days can be purchased in India by foreign nationals from tourist bureaux at major railway stations or through authorised travel agents in Delhi, Mumbai, Kalkota and Chennai; or in advance, through Indian Airlines and Air India’s overseas outlets in Australia.
Since 1982, rail passengers have been able to tour the desert state of Rajasthan in regal style. The luxurious Palace on Wheels, a joint venture between the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) and Indian Railways, initially consisted of the refurbished saloons of former Maharajas; the train has since been upgraded with modern coaches, fitted out to resemble the original, 100-year-old saloon cars. Once a week between August and April, the Palace on Wheels pulls out of the station in New Delhi bound for Jaipur, Chittorgarh and Udaipur, with their picturesque lakes and palaces; to Ranthambore National Park, outside Sawai Madhopur; and to Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Agra, where you can stop and see the Taj Mahal before returning to Delhi. Passengers can hop off and sightsee by day, travelling between places of interest primarily at night.
In response to overwhelming demand for such stylish forms of travel, the RTDC introduced a yet more lavish train to the same route last year: the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels. A raft of sophisticated additions includes an onboard spa (with therapists) and WiFi.
India’s road network is one of the largest in the world. About 3.3 million kilometres of roads connect its cities, towns and villages. Farmers still use bullock carts for transport, here, and traffic conditions range from sleepy to chaotic, gridlocked or downright hazardous. Nevertheless, road travel has become more popular with visitors now that reliable coach tours ply the roads between important tourist centres. You’ll also find comfortable intercity bus services, with each state managing its own coach transport system.
Tourists wishing to venture beyond the most touristed cities to explore rural India can now do so with relative ease. But coach travel is far from speedy, as the roads are generally jam-packed with trucks, other buses, cars, bicycles, bullock carts, the occasional elephant and wandering sacred cows.
Once you reach your destination, it’s simple to find ongoing transportation. There are booths for metered and prepaid taxis at most transit hubs. In city hotels, your concierge can arrange an on-call taxi for the return journey.
Note that hiring a car for extended periods can be cheaper than using taxis. For instance, in Kolkata, you can hire a non-air-conditioned Ambassador car for six hours for around AU$17, including petrol and the services of a qualified chauffeur.
Transport enthusiasts will have a field day in Kolkata, which could well have more modes of transport than any city on the subcontinent. The former capital of British-colonial India, teems with three-wheeled auto-rickshaws, lumbering double-decker buses, packed commuter and modern metro trains, battered old black taxis and sleek yellow ones, quaint but ramshackle trams and hand-pulled rickshaws, relics of another era.
Photography by Tom King and India Tourism
Travel facts
getting around
- Air India, phone +02 9283 4016 or visit www.airindia.in
- Air India Express, phone +91 22 2279 6330 or visit www.airindiaexpress.in
- Deccan Airlines, phone +91 80 2523 0429 or visit www.decanairlines.in
- Deccan Odyssey India, phone +91 11 2341 4747 or visit www.deccan-odyssey-india.com
- Go Air, phone +91 92 2322 2111 or visit www.goair.in
- Golden Chariot, phone 1800 156 671 or visit www.goldenchariot.com
- Indian Airlines, phone 02 8251 3911 or visit www.indian-airlines.nic.in
- Indian Railways, phone +91 11 2340 5156 or +91 11 2334 6804 or visit www.indianrailways.gov.in
- IndiGo, phone, phone +91 99 1038 3838 or visit www.goindigo.in
- Jet Airways, phone +91 11 3989 3333 or visit www.jetairways.com
- JetLite, phone +91 11 3989 3333 or visit www.jetlite.com
- Kingfisher Airlines, phone +91 11 3989 3333 or visit www.flykingfisher.com
- Palace on Wheels, phone 1800 156 671 or visit www.palaceonwheels.net
- Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, phone +91 11 2338 3837 or visit www.royalrajasthanonwheels.com
- Spice Jet, phone +91 987 180 3333 or visit www.spicejet.com
- Tempo Holidays, phone 1300 558 987, www.tempoholidays.com
further information
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