What is the Indian railway like?

India is a magical country. If you stay in China for a long time and take the high-speed train too much, then you can take the Indian Railway. There is really an unspeakable feeling. Ha, ha, ha, Bian Xiao is not dark, and I feel that India is still worth visiting. If you want to know what the Indian railway is like, read the article silently!

India's railway is really a wonderful flower, especially for us who are just used to high-speed rail.

My traveling companion and I are carrying bulging bags and walking on a rare road: cows lying in the middle of the road giving birth, stray dogs and muddy puddles need to be carefully avoided. With the deafening ticking of cars and tricycles, we walked past the motionless yogi's feet and walked to an unknown railway station ahead.

The day before yesterday, we bought a ticket to Rajasthan, but unfortunately, it is a unique waiting ticket (WL- waiting) in India.

List). Unlike domestic trains or high-speed trains that only take tickets/sleepers or First/second class seats, Indian trains have first-class air conditioners (1AC), second-class air conditioners (2AC), third-class air conditioners (3AC) and first-class air conditioners.

Class), advanced air conditioning seat (ACExecutiveChair), ordinary seat (ACChair), hard Sleeper (Sleeper), Second seat (Second).

Class) and other dazzling eight or nine kinds. The process of buying tickets is even more unique: some tickets can only be bought one day in advance, some tickets can only be bought at designated stations, and some tickets can only be bought by foreign tourists in foreign currency. After the tickets for each car are sold out, RAC-Reservation is sold.

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Cancel) and wait for the ticket. If the passenger who bought the regular ticket can't catch the train at last, his position will be allocated to the passenger who bought the supplementary ticket, and this supplementary ticket position will be allocated to the waiting passenger.

Yesterday, our standby ticket was upgraded to a backup ticket. However, the good luck ended here, and there was no further news. The only way to confirm whether there is a seat before departure is to pack your luggage and come to the platform according to the departure time. After the train enters the station, the station staff will print the temporary passenger list on paper and stick it on the door of each car. Countless passengers flocked to look for their names at the moment the train entered the station, and they saw a burst of joy; If not, you can only walk off the platform with your head down and your luggage on your back, hoping that there is still room on the crowded floor of the waiting room.

This railway and this system are the pride of India, which once carried the dreams of white people from the other side of the world. When the British incorporated India into the territory two centuries ago, they were surprised to find that the legendary rich country was not a unified country, but a hodgepodge of countless nationalities, languages, religions and cultures. Countries of different sizes have been fighting for land, trade or which god to believe all the year round. How can such a land become the jewel in the queen's crown? So the British offered two magic weapons: English and railway. In the future, people on the Indian subcontinent, regardless of their beliefs and nationalities, will speak the same language and remember that they are subjects of the British Empire. In order to make materials and troops reach various places faster, a huge railway network is gradually spread out. From here, the steam train is loaded with tea and opium, and loaded with sailboats; Sail to the other side of the sea with the glory and dreams of the British.

Hundreds of years passed, the British left, but the railway was handed down. Year after year, day after day, rusty trains run over old tracks-bang-and take the dark doors and people hanging outside the carriages to crowded cities.

Train entering the station

In the afterglow of the sunset, my traveling companion and I walked through the scattered crowd. Maybe they just missed the train or their train hasn't arrived yet. No one complained. Wrapped in thick blankets, they quietly looked at the platform in the cold wind, grabbed local snacks or rice from the ground with bony hands and put them in their mouths. A little mouse next to it pokes its head out of the gap from time to time and drools at the food scraps around it.

Our unfortunate premonition was confirmed, and the names of the two people did not appear in the new carriage. See the rear of the car from the front, and then run from the rear to the front, really not! Being foreigners, we broke into the station office. The list came out of the black printer. But the result of the inquiry was just a shrug and an open palm. These days' travel in India has taught us this unique language: if the Indian waiter says it takes 5 minutes, the actual waiting time will be between 2 minutes and 2 hours. If the answer you get is "I don't know", then silent prayer is the best way.

If you want to take this train again, the only choice left is to take the wrong second-class seat. In India, no one knows how many tickets a second-class car will sell. As soon as the car door opened, people flocked in. Whoever can grab a seat or even a foothold on the floor depends on his own ability. We walked into a second-class carriage, and dozens of pairs of eyes in the car instantly focused on the young girl beside me. In the flickering light, no one spoke, just in a daze. The companion immediately made a decision: get off.

We sat on the floor of the station in the dim light. Another tin train rumbled past a mountain of garbage and garbage collectors. Only the mice in the cement cracks kept calm and seized the opportunity to rush out again and again, taking away food scraps. The constant noise of the distant city gradually flooded the eardrum like the tide, so I closed my eyes. India, here we come.