All regular trains in India are either super-fast, express/mail, fast passenger, passenger or local/suburban trains. The broad hierarchy from luxurious to normal is as follows:
A schematic map of India's rail network, color-coded by gauge
Duronto ? these are fully air-conditioned non-stop trains offering an experience of luxury combined with punctuality and to add to it the expense of travel is lesser than Rajdhani.
Rajdhani Express ? These are fully air-conditioned superfast overnight trains, having only sleeper accommodation, that run between the National Capital (Delhi) and each state capital, reaching there.
Shatabdi Express ? These are fully air-conditioned superfast daytime intercity trains offering sitting accommodation (no sleepers). They are the fastest trains in India.
Jan Shatabdi Express ? These are superfast daytime intercity trains offering both airconditioned and non-airconditioned sitting accommodation.
Garib Rath Express ? These are fully air-conditioned superfast overnight trains, having both sitting and sleeper accommodations, that offer more seats per carriage at a lower fare.
Note: The above are fully reserved trains. They do not have general compartments (see below).
Express and Mail ? These trains have both air-conditioned and non-airconditioned carriages, including both sitting and sleeper accommodation, and do not stop at all stations.
Fast Passenger ? These trains have only non-airconditioned carriages,including both sitting (mostly) and sleeper (sometimes)accommodation. They stop at almost all stations on their route.
Passenger trains ? These trains have only non-airconditioned carriages offering only unreserved sitting (general compartments) accommodation.
Local or Suburban ? These trains offer both sitting accommodation as well as standing room and grab rails, and operate within and around big cities.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Rail travel in India
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Rail travel in India - updated Apr 2024
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Rail travel in India Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
