Transport system of India. Industry, agriculture, transport The leading mode of transport in India is
This is the main mode of transport for traveling in India. Popular destinations are served by a large number of fairly comfortable buses; in less popular areas, sometimes you have to travel by simpler buses. Tickets are sold by the conductor. Passenger luggage is transported on the roof of the bus, as there is usually no room for it in the cabin.
Trains
The most inexpensive mode of transport in India is rail. In this case, we are talking about tickets for second-class carriages, since first-class tickets are quite expensive. Train tickets are recommended to be booked in advance to avoid inconsistencies. Some tourists, going to India for a long time, prefer to order in special agencies"Pass to India", which allows them to use any train to move around the country for a year.
Taxi
Taxis in India are black and yellow. Most taxis are equipped with meters, but they are not always turned on. Auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws can also be used as "exotic taxis", but in this case it is better to discuss the cost of the trip in advance. The night rate in India exceeds the daytime one and a half times.
Air Transport
In recent years, air travel has become increasingly popular in India - there are currently about 70 domestic airports equipped with everything necessary to make tourists feel comfortable while waiting for flights. Although this type of transportation requires certain costs, it allows you to quickly and easily get from one point of the country to another.
Car rent
Renting a car in India is not difficult, but not every tourist decides to take such a step. The reason is simple - the poor condition of the roads and the frequent non-compliance with traffic rules by Indian drivers. Among other things, traffic in India is left-handed, which only adds to the problems for tourists.
If you do decide to rent a car, you will need an international driving license and a third party liability insurance policy. You can also rent a car with a driver and thus save yourself from having to deal with problems on the road.
I decided to write an article about how you can travel around India, how much it costs, the pros and cons of each type of transport. I don't know if this information will be useful to anyone, but I thought it would be useful to know. India is good because you can travel everywhere, regardless of your budget. The only thing you need is to fly here first!
1) The most convenient (for short distances) is to hire a car with a driver, which can be done in any city. Depending on the size of the car and its level, the price will be different. A large car (for example, Toyota Innova) will cost in Goa the first 80 km - 1800 rupees, then it is considered 18 rupees per kilometer; a small car (regular passenger car) will cost Rs 1200 for the first 80 km and Rs 13 for each subsequent kilometer. I note that in Goa a taxi is more expensive than in other cities. In Delhi (Toyota Innova) will cost 1800 rupees for the first 80 km, then each kilometer - 15 rupees. Usually I hire just Innova, because. this is a fairly large (6-7 seater), comfortable car. Plus, it's available everywhere.
After my last trip to the Himalayas, I realized that in the Himalayas it is best to take not Innova, but something like Mahindra Scorpio. Although the Innova is very comfortable, it does not have high enough ground clearance for the mountains. We have visited places where it is best to go by jeep and Scorpio is the best option for this.
The cheapest car option is Tata Indigo, 1300 rupees for the first 80 km and then 10 rupees per km. For those who travel in two or three and who have limited funds, the choice of this car will be the best option.
In fact, you can rent a car of different levels: jeeps, and a representative class, as well as minibuses or buses (for example, for a group).
2) You can rent a car and drive it yourself. To do this, you need to have a license and be able to drive a car, given that India has left-hand traffic. For drivers accustomed to driving in Russia or somewhere else with right-hand traffic, driving in India can be a little problematic. It is hard to change driving from right-hand traffic to left-hand traffic. Therefore, not everyone can dare to rent a car and drive it themselves. If you don't care if you drive on the right or on the left, this will be the most convenient and not so expensive way to travel. Prices for different cars are also different, for example, Toyota Innova will cost 1800 rupees per day. Also, if you rent a car for a period of 3-7 days, more than a week or a month, the price will be cheaper.
3) You can also rent motorcycles and scooters. There is also a large selection here. In Mayapur, where I live, I have my Honda pleasure scooter. Very good scooter Honda Activa, because. it has very good power (but it is quite big compared to my scooter).
In Goa, for example, this is the best mode of transport, because. there are relatively short distances. You can rent a scooter for 200-300 rupees (depending on the brand of the scooter and the place where you rent it) and ride all day. You will have to pay extra for petrol. Usually at the rental places you will be offered to buy gasoline from them, but it is best for you to refuel the scooter yourself at the gas station, because. it will cost a lot less.
Just remember that when you take a scooter or motorcycle, be very careful on the road, because. traffic (almost all the time and everywhere) is very busy in India!
4) To move around the country over long distances, the most convenient and fastest, but expensive mode of transport is an airplane. If you buy an intra-India ticket in advance, then it will cost you much less than if you buy closer to the departure date. Therefore, if you like to plan your trip in advance, then the plane will not cost you so much. For example, if you buy a ticket for 6 months (Calcutta-Delhi), then the ticket will cost you about 80-100 dollars round trip. If you buy a ticket closer to departure, then it will cost you only one way about $ 100. Therefore, it is good to plan your trip well in advance.
The cheapest airlines in India are Indigo and SpiceJet.
But what I like most is to use the services airlines Air India, because firstly, the ticket price includes meals, and secondly, the planes arrive at Delhi International Airport (not in domestic, like all other flights), which is very convenient when connecting flights upon arrival in India from another country
5) Trains in India - for every taste and every pocket. There are 3 classes of cars: AC, Sleeper and 2 Class. AC (with air conditioning) is also divided into 3 categories: AC1, AC2, AC3.
AC1 - quite expensive (prices are almost the same as for an airplane), the average between the Russian SV and the coupe.
AC2 - something like a reserved seat, only with curtains ( central places- four-seater and there are 2 more side seats).
AC3 is also quite comfortable cars, only in each compartment - 6 seats + 2 side seats. The difference between the AC and the slipper is that the AC cars have air conditioners (which are always turned on at a minimum), they provide you with bed linen and a towel, and the main thing is that no strangers can enter them.
In the slipper, you are not provided with accommodation, it is very dirty, someone is constantly walking around .. As a result, this option is only for brave adventurers.
The second class (2 Class) is the cheapest wagons, where basically it is seat place. There are also whole class 2 trains, something like our electric trains. Tickets for them are VERY cheap (up to 20 rupees you can travel about 100 km). But about Indian electric trains is another story.
Be also extremely careful at railway stations, because. they are always very crowded, which is an excellent environment for fishing for pickpockets.
There are also luxury trains in India, for example, on the Delhi-Mumbai (Maharaja's Express) route lasting 8 days (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur-Udaipur-Ellora and Aurangabad-Ajanta-Mumbai.
Someday I will definitely take a ride on this train. The price for it: from 5160 dollars to 23700 dollars (presidential suite).
There are also other luxury trains on other routes..
6) The bus is one of the cheapest modes of transport by which you can travel any distance.
There are comfortable air-conditioned buses (usually they run at night) and regular buses that run both short and long distances.
Prices for regular buses are quite cheap. For example, traveling from Vrindavan to Delhi by bus will cost only 133 rupees (compared to a car that costs about 1800 - small or 2500 - large), from Vrindavan to Agra - 70 rupees. The only thing is that the bus is not the most comfortable mode of transport.
There are also luxury buses (for example, the Olivia company).
7) I even had cases when I hitchhiked. I just got to places where buses run only once a day and there was no other way out, how to hitchhike. It even happened that we were brought up in a police car.
8) And you can’t do without rickshaws or tuk-tuk in India (moto rickshaw, bicycle rickshaw ...)
Calcutta (the only city in India) still has manual rickshaws
So, lovers of purest, welcome to India! Here you can find transport for every taste, color and budget.
India is connected by airlines to all major cities peace. International airports available in Delhi, Mumbai (former Bombay), Calcutta (former Calcutta), Chennai (former Madras). Air transportation carried out by 2 state-owned companies: Air India and Indian Airlines; domestic airlines are served by 3 private companies. Flight to Delhi from Moscow is about 7-8 hours.
Direct flights:
1. Aeroflot. Planes fly from Moscow to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Trivandrum. Fast non-stop flight, you can connect flights from St. Petersburg, there are seasonal sales (ticket price is 2-3 times lower than usual).
2. Air India. non-stop flight, the opportunity to receive a discount on domestic flights. You already face the paradoxes of India on the plane: the Air India airline sells tickets for the seats it bought out on Aeroflot planes. Due to this, the ticket price increases by one and a half to two times.
Transfer flights:
1. Quatar Airways. convenient connections, reasonable price, good service. Qatar Airways it is especially convenient to use for a trip to the south of India: to Mumbai, Cochin, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, but you can also fly to Delhi. The transfer is made in the capital of Qatar - Doha.
2. Uzbekistan airways. Relatively low cost of tickets, the possibility of departure from St. Petersburg, seasonal discounts. Landing in Tashkent. When flying to India, the interval between flights is small, but the interval between Delhi-Tashkent and Tashkent-St. Petersburg flights is about four hours. In addition, during the return flight, you should be prepared for a long queue at Pulkovo, as many citizens of Uzbekistan will fly to St. Petersburg with you.
National airlines of other CIS countries also operate flights to Delhi, but are considered less reliable and less popular with Russian tourists.
You can move around the country for long distances by plane and train, for short distances - by bus, taxi, motorcycle and cycle rickshaws.
The Indian international rail network is the largest in Asia and the second largest in the world. The categories of travel are different, starting from the CA-my expensive I class, with air conditioning (the ticket price is comparable to the cost of travel in other countries of this class), and ending with the cheapest option - a shared carriage, with a ticket without a seat, but this is quite inconvenient. There are also air-conditioned sleeping cars and double compartments, as well as air-conditioned seating cars (both second class); there are second-class carriages with fans.
Within India there is an extensive network bus routes connecting all parts of the country. This is especially true for those areas in which there is no railway connection, in particular for high mountainous areas. Older buses run on most rural roads, but air-conditioned express buses are increasingly appearing on main routes. Each state has its own transportation companies and many private bus companies. All types of public buses are suitable for travel, the difference is only in comfort and cost. They have a conductor. You can buy a ticket at intermediate stops, get travel advice.
Taxis are easy to distinguish by a special yellow and black color. The price should be agreed in advance with the driver.
Motorcycle and cycle rickshaws are common. They can be hired in the same way as taxis.
This is an exotic, convenient, cheap and fast way to travel. But they are only suitable for short trips. Their speed is low, convenience is minimal, and if the road also leads uphill, then the traveler will have to walk alongside. However, before the end of this year, rickshaws may disappear from the streets of Calcutta, as warned by the chief minister of the Indian state of West Bengal. He explained that this decision was taken for humanitarian reasons.
You can rent a car, and more often it will be a car with a driver. The price takes into account the route or approximate mileage per day, as well as money for food and accommodation for the driver. If the car is without a driver, which is not very common in India, then you need to have a driver's license and you will have to pay a large deposit. We must remember that in India the left-hand traffic.
As in any other country in India, there are various modes of transport. There are air and rail links. Buses run, among which there are so-called sleeper buses. This type of bus is unusual for Russia, but I think in vain. To go for example from Yalta to Sochi about 18 hours. Sitting is not always possible to sleep. Sleeper buses are another matter. You can stretch your legs if you are not tall and get some sleep. However, the sleeping places in the buses are double, and if you are traveling alone, then you may not be lucky with a neighbor ... or you may be lucky.
Trains in India are a different story, about how I traveled by rail I wrote earlier. It is only worth noting that in addition to classic trains and electric trains, there are also luxury trains. Their route passes through Indian sights.
In India, the main vehicles on the roads are scooters and motorcycles. They are driven by the whole family, someone transports things and sometimes those that seemed impossible to transport.
Those who have not saved up for a scooter ride a bicycle.
You can take an Indian taxi, but if you neglect the comfort a little, and take a riska, or as it is also called a tuk-tuk, you can literally ride like a breeze.
Another interesting Indian transport is a bicycle taxi. The driver is pedaling, and you are sitting in the carriage. For the owner of a bicycle taxi, this is his only income and often he spins in his carriage. Those who do not have a bicycle will carry you with the help of their two.
Despite the fact that most of the territory of India is the coast, maritime transport in the country is poorly developed. There are many fishing boats that, for a fee, can take you to beautiful beach. What the Indians caught with their boats is immediately sold and can be cooked for you for dinner.
The most popular transport in India is its own two legs. But since you are already in such a fabulous and warm country, you can also walk.
