Rail Transport: The Backbone of India’s Travel Industry

When you think of how Indians travel – to weddings, pilgrimages, beaches, and hill stations – chances are the journey involves a train. The Indian Railways is not just a transport network; it is the circulatory system of domestic tourism, carrying millions of travellers to every corner of the country at fares that remain among the most affordable in the world. From the holy ghats of Varanasi to the beaches of Goa, from Kashmir’s valleys to Kanyakumari’s tip, rail travel has shaped how Indians experience their own country.

The scale of Indian Railways 🔗

To understand why railways matter so much to tourism, it helps to grasp the sheer scale of the operation. Indian Railways is the world’s largest railway system under a single management. In 2023-24, it operated an average of 13,198 passenger trains daily, covering 7,325 stations and carrying 6.905 billion passengers. That works out to roughly 19 million passengers boarding a train every single day – a population larger than many countries, on the move on the rails.

The network’s reach is what makes it irreplaceable for tourism. Aptly called the Lifeline of India, Indian Railways operates 13,000 trains daily connecting 7,325 stations across the nation. Whether a tourist wants to visit a tier-1 metro or a remote temple town in central India, there is almost always a train that goes there – and usually several.

Passenger traffic and growth 🔗

Passenger numbers tell their own story about rail’s role in mobility. In September 2025, passengers originating on Indian Railways stood at 637.2 million for the month, an increase from 634.75 million in August 2025. Festival peaks push these numbers even higher. On 4 November 2024, Indian Railways set a record by transporting over 3 crore passengers in a single day, including 120.72 lakh non-suburban passengers and 180 lakh suburban passengers.

Festival travel demand is so significant that the Railways now plans entire special-train calendars around it. Between 1 October and 30 November 2024, Indian Railways announced 7,724 special trains, a 73% jump from 4,429 services the previous year. Most of these trips were tourist-driven – people heading home for Durga Puja, Diwali, and Chhath, but also pilgrims and holidaymakers using the long weekends.

Why rail dominates domestic tourism 🔗

Several structural factors make rail the natural backbone of Indian travel. The first is affordability. The second is connectivity to destinations that air travel simply cannot reach economically. And the third is the cultural comfort of the train journey itself – sleeper coaches, pantry cars, and the social rhythm of travelling together.

Affordability and reach 🔗

Rail fares remain a fraction of equivalent air or premium bus fares, especially for sleeper-class long-distance journeys. This pricing keeps tourism democratic. A family from a small town in Bihar can plan a trip to Tirupati or Vaishno Devi without the cost of the journey itself becoming the trip’s biggest expense. Suburban rail users – the daily commuter base – also feed weekend tourism around metros, with short hops to Lonavala from Mumbai or Digha from Kolkata.

Connecting tourist circuits 🔗

Major heritage and religious circuits are stitched together almost entirely by rail. The Golden Triangle of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, the Char Dham routes, the Konkan coast, the temple towns of Tamil Nadu, and the Buddhist circuit of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh – all of these are most efficiently traversed on the train. Many of these destinations have small or no airports, making rail the practical default.

Tourist trains: a category of their own 🔗

Beyond regular passenger services, the Railways has built a portfolio of trains designed specifically for tourism. These range from theme-based circuit trains aimed at middle-class travellers to ultra-luxury trains marketed to international visitors.

Bharat Gaurav tourist trains 🔗

The most ambitious recent push is the Bharat Gaurav scheme. During 2023, 172 trips of Bharat Gaurav Trains carried 96,491 tourists across various destinations spread over 24 States and Union Territories. These trains run on theme-based circuits – the Shri Ramayana Yatra, the Ambedkar Circuit, the Garvi Gujarat tour, the North East tour, and several pilgrimage trails. Journeys are offered as comprehensive tour packages including off-board excursions by buses, hotel stays, tour guides, meals, and travel insurance alongside the train journey.

The momentum has continued. As reported in the Economic Survey, 325 trips of Bharat Gaurav theme-based tourist trains have carried 1,91,033 tourists to various destinations. The model deliberately targets the rising middle-class domestic tourist who wants a curated experience without the price tag of a luxury train.

Luxury tourist trains 🔗

At the premium end, India operates some of the most celebrated luxury trains in the world. The Palace on Wheels, launched in 1982, was the original. The Maharajas’ Express, run by IRCTC, is now the flagship. The Maharajas’ Express serves four routes across North-West and Central India, mainly centred on Rajasthan between October and April, and was voted “The World’s Leading Luxury Train” seven times in a row at the World Travel Awards from 2012 through 2018, and again in 2024. The Deccan Odyssey and the Golden Chariot serve similar markets in western and southern India.

These trains are significant not because of the volume of tourists they carry – which is small – but because of their role in positioning India as a high-end tourism destination internationally and in earning foreign exchange.

Vande Bharat and modern intercity travel 🔗

The Vande Bharat Express trains have transformed daytime intercity tourism. With operating speeds of 160-180 kmph, modern interiors, and faster journey times, they make weekend trips between cities far more practical. India is gradually replacing traditional Mail, Express, and Superfast trains with semi-high-speed Vande Bharat services, with nearly 150 operational as of August 2025. For a tourist heading from Delhi to Varanasi or Mumbai to Goa, this changes the math considerably – what used to be an overnight journey becomes a same-day trip.

Modernising stations and the passenger experience 🔗

For decades, Indian railway stations were notorious for crumbling infrastructure, poor lighting, and basic amenities. Tourism suffered from this – stations were often the first and last impression of a city, and they rarely impressed. The current modernisation programme is rewriting that.

The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme 🔗

The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is the centrepiece. The scheme targets the redevelopment of 1,337 stations, with work already commenced at 1,197 of these stations. The scheme envisages building modern passenger amenities like aesthetically designed façades, resurfaced platforms, beautiful landscaping, roof plazas, kiosks, food courts, and kids play areas.

What makes the redevelopment notable for tourism is that many stations are being designed to reflect the destination they serve. The Puri station is inspired by the architecture of the Jagannath Temple, while Madurai and Rameswaram stations draw from the Madurai Meenakshi and Ramanathaswamy Temples respectively, and Udaipur Station sports a dome inspired by Umaid Bhawan Palace. A station that announces the cultural identity of its city sets the tone for the visit.

Customer amenities funding 🔗

The financial commitment behind these upgrades is substantial. For 2024-25, a capital outlay of Rs 155 billion has been allocated under Plan Head 53 “Customer Amenities” in budget allocations. This funds escalators, lifts, better signage, Wi-Fi, cleaner toilets, waiting rooms, and the small-but-important details that determine whether a station feels welcoming or hostile.

Digital and on-train improvements 🔗

Technology has reshaped how tourists interact with rail. E-ticketing now accounts for 86 per cent of reserved bookings, while digital ticketing in the unreserved sector has risen to 33 per cent. Wi-Fi has been rolled out widely. Train indication boards have been installed at 1,351 stations, coach guidance systems at 866 stations, and Wi-Fi at 6,112 stations.

On-train, the shift from older ICF rakes to LHB coaches has improved ride comfort, safety, and noise levels. Bio-toilets have replaced direct-discharge toilets across the fleet. Pantry car catering has been overhauled – a new catering policy introduced in November 2023 resulted in the establishment of 557 base kitchens servicing 468 pairs of trains.

The road ahead: high-speed rail and beyond 🔗

The future shape of rail-based tourism is being defined by two parallel projects: the rollout of more Vande Bharat services and the construction of true high-speed rail. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor, supported by Japan, reported 47.17 per cent physical progress with an expenditure of Rs 67,486 crore as of October 2024. When operational, this will reduce a six-to-seven-hour journey to about two hours, fundamentally changing tourism patterns between Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Sustainability and electrification 🔗

Tourism is also benefiting from the greening of the network. Completion of electrification at the end of March 2024 stood at 45,881 km, or 94.44 per cent of the broad-gauge network. Electric trains are quieter, faster, and produce no local emissions – a meaningful difference in scenic and ecologically sensitive routes through forested or hilly regions.

Regional connectivity for tourism 🔗

New lines into previously underserved regions are unlocking tourist potential. The Jammu-Baramulla link in Kashmir, the gauge conversion in the North-East, and the Konkan Railway have each opened up entire regions to mass tourism. The One Station One Product scheme, now operating at over 1,900 stations, also lets travellers buy local crafts and produce right at the platform – a small but clever way to link rail journeys with regional economies and cultural exposure.

Challenges that remain 🔗

For all the progress, the system has real friction points. Confirmed-ticket availability during peak seasons is still a struggle, with waiting-list queues running into hundreds. Punctuality varies widely. Cleanliness, despite improvements, can still disappoint at smaller stations. Safety incidents, though statistically rare given the volume of operations, draw heavy public scrutiny. And the modal shift toward private vehicles and budget airlines means rail must keep upgrading just to retain its share of premium travellers.

The tourism question for the next decade is whether the Railways can move beyond being the cheap default and become a genuinely preferred choice – comparable in comfort and reliability to flying, but with the immersion that only ground travel offers.

What do you think? If you were planning a multi-city heritage trip across the country, would you choose a Bharat Gaurav themed package, a luxury train like the Maharajas’ Express, or stitch together your own itinerary using regular trains and Vande Bharat services? And how much does the experience of the journey itself – the dhabas, the changing landscapes, the chai at platforms – factor into how you remember a holiday?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways
2. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2009790
3. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/india/railway-passenger-and-freight-traffic-monthly/passenger-traffic-passengers-originating
4. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2071341
5. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1996588
6. https://www.millenniumpost.in/nation/indian-railways-drives-massive-expansion-modernisation-in-fy-2024-25-597059
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharajas%27_Express
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_rail_transport_in_India
9. https://indianinfrastructure.com/2024/11/07/modern-makeover-indian-railway-stations-get-a-new-look/