Adventures on Indian Railways
17 Wednesday Nov 2010
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Tag Archives: train
AC2 Sleeper
30 Saturday Oct 2010
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45 hours on a train
31 Tuesday Aug 2010
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Notes on China train travel
18 Wednesday Aug 2010
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- Cheapest way to get around the country
- 5 categories of seats available:
- Hard seat (硬座)
- Soft seat (软座) – Have yet to try this one
- Hard sleeper （硬卧）
- Soft sleeper （软卧）
- Deluxe soft sleeper – Have yet to try this as well
- Hard seats are the cheapest long distance transport and is how the common folks move around. The seats are in a booth of 3+3 seats or 2+2 seats. It is often crowded and rowdy.
- The overhead storage is never enough, so bags are tucked under or inbetween the seats. This often results in less leg room.
- It is possible to purchase a hard seat ticket without a confirmed seating (无座票）. These tickets are sold when all confirmed seats are sold out. For shorter journeys of an hour or so, such ticket holders would stand around. Otherwise, they would find a seat on the floor in between the carriages, along the aisle or even on the wash basin!
- Tickets can be upgraded onboard the train at the conductors’ cabin. The cabin is located in the middle carriage. As hard sleeper tickets are often sold out at the train stations, upgrading is often the only way to get hold of a hard sleeper berth.
- Hard seat journeys can be rough but it is dependent on the people that are seated next to you. Littering and spitting onto the floor is very common. The younger folks aremore civil though.
- Trains are generally punctual.
- Information on train destinations and schedules are often lacking or confusing at the train stations. If you can read Chinese, it is more convenient to purchase the nation wide train schedule guidebook. The inexpensive guidebook contains a listing of all train services in country with their respective destinations and timing.
- It is possible to purchase tickets for journeys that depart from another train station. There is a small subcharge (RMB 5 as of March 2010) for this service.
