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Date of the journey:- November 2019
Distance travelled:- 122 miles
From New Delhi, we travelled to Agra on the train. Being our first Indian train journey, we used the booking agent 12Go Asia to purchase the tickets online. The process was really simple and easy. However, the face value of the ticket was 170 Rupees. 12Go Asia charged a whopping 900 Rupees for the ticket.
Unfortunately, we had already pre-booked our next 3 train journeys with them. Subsequently, we never used them for any further train ticket purchases. Our advice is to register with the Indian railway’s website, IRCTC. Simply register, pay the foreigners registration fee of 118 Rupees and book your tickets. See our page on India travel tips & advice for more information.
Leaving our New Delhi accommodation at Hotel Mahajan International. We walked the 650m to Delhi Aerocity Station on the Airport Express Orange metro line. Purchasing two single journey tokens, 50 Rupees each from the ticket counter at the station. The journey to New Delhi train station took approximately 15 minutes. Exiting the metro station, we found ourselves at the back of New Delhi Railway Station. A few minutes walk across a very busy car park and we were at the railway station.
The train was due to depart New Delhi station at 1725 hrs. Tickets indicated the train name and number along with our carriage and seat numbers. The large information board displayed our train number and indicated the platform we needed to go to. We had no idea at what point on the platform our carriage would stop. Choosing a place on the platform, we settled down, awaiting the arrival of the train.
The platform was full of passengers sitting anywhere they could, whilst awaiting the arrival of the train. Hawkers made their way through the crowds, selling their wares as they did so.
The stations and the trains in India are nothing like those in Britain. For a start, the first thing we noticed was the length of the platform. So long, we couldn’t see the end of it because of the curvature of the earth!
A long platform means only one thing. A long train and it was just that, 20 carriages long at least. When the train arrived, our carriage was pretty much the other end of the station from where we were sitting.
The train remained in the station for a good 15 minutes. Allowing us the time to walk almost the entire length of the platform to our carriage. We soon learned that suspended from the station canopy are illuminated signs. These indicate the position of each carriage by number. Just wait adjacent to the sign with the corresponding number of your carriage which is printed on the ticket.
Within half an hour of departure, it was dark, so we couldn’t see much of the countryside between the two cities. The 2 hours 38-minute journey passed quite quickly. Our seats were in an SL (sleeper) class compartment. For more information regarding the classes of carriages see our India travel tips & advice page.
Arrival at Agra Cantt railway station was quite an exciting experience. As the train pulled into the station, men were clambering through windows to claim seats, before the train had come to a halt. Passengers were climbing aboard the train before we had the opportunity to get off.
Luckily we were standing by the door ready. Guy was wearing his backpack so nobody was able to get past him. This stopped the people from getting on, allowing us and other passengers behind us to get off.
Agra Cantt station is huge. A long walk to get out, allowing the taxi drivers plenty of time to hassle us.
Our accommodation in Agra was at Safarnama Agra. It was booked through Booking.com. 12 mins ride in a tuk tuk from the railway station.