Train routes in India
31 routes · classic 14 · night train 5 · scenic 7 · heritage 1 · mountain 1 · luxury 3
31 routes cross India in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the Vivek Express at 4,154 km; the fastest is the Bhopal Vande Bharat, running up to 160 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1881. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
Open the world railway map →Classic (14)
- Vande Bharat Express
First of India’s home-built semi-high-speed EMUs (2019), skimming the Gangetic plain from the capital to Hinduism’s holiest city in eight hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bhopal Vande Bharat
India’s fastest timetabled train: a home-built Vande Bharat touching 160 km/h past Agra and Gwalior, capital to Bhopal in seven and a half hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Deccan Queen
Maharashtra’s beloved “Queen” since 1930. India’s first deluxe electric express, still climbing the monsoon-soaked Bhor Ghat with the network’s last dining car.
Wikipedia ↗ - Golden Temple Mail
Born 1928 as the Frontier Mail to Peshawar: the Raj’s most glamorous train still runs daily, Mumbai to the Golden Temple’s city, 1,890 km up the map.
Wikipedia ↗ - Janakpur Railway
Nepal’s only passenger railway, reborn in 2022: a crimson DEMU ferrying pilgrims across the border plain from Jaynagar to Sita’s temple city of Janakpur.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
India’s third Vande Bharat: a fully-AC self-propelled set gliding the Mumbai–Ahmedabad corridor at up to 130 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
India’s second Vande Bharat, launched 2019 to carry pilgrims 655 km from Delhi to the Vaishno Devi base town of Katra.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
South India’s first Vande Bharat (India’s 5th), linking Chennai, Bengaluru’s tech hub and the palace city of Mysuru.
Wikipedia ↗ - Gatimaan Express
India’s first 160 km/h train: the “Speedy” express dashes Delhi to Jhansi via Agra’s Taj and the fort city of Gwalior.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vivek Express
India’s longest train journey: 4,154 km and roughly 75 hours from Assam’s tea country to the subcontinent’s southern tip.
Wikipedia ↗ - Tejas Express
India’s first train run by a separate operator, IRCTC, rather than the Railways: with onboard hosts and automatic payouts for delays.
Wikipedia ↗ - Swarna Shatabdi
The Swarna Shatabdi day train (1994) speeds from the capital to the Golden Temple city of Amritsar in a shade over six hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Grand Trunk Express
Running since 1929, the “GT” hauls down the spine of India through Bhopal and Nagpur to Chennai: 2,180 km in a day and a half.
Wikipedia ↗ - Himsagar Express
From the Himalayan foothills at Jammu to the very tip of India at Kanyakumari: about 3,785 km through a dozen states, one of the country’s longest single journeys.
Wikipedia ↗
Night train (5)
- Mumbai Rajdhani
India’s first Rajdhani: the overnight flagship linking the capital with the financial capital, now in bright Tejas livery.
Wikipedia ↗ - Howrah Rajdhani
India’s first Rajdhani (1969): the all-air-conditioned overnight flagship racing the Grand Chord from the capital to Kolkata, dinner and bedrolls at your berth.
Wikipedia ↗ - Island Express
Kerala’s workhorse since 1940: overnight from Bengaluru’s plateau down the palm-and-backwater coast to the subcontinent’s southernmost station at Kanniyakumari.
Wikipedia ↗ - Duronto Express
An all-AC, near-non-stop “Duronto” linking India’s two biggest cities across the central heartland in about 27 hours.
Wikipedia ↗ - Sethu Express (Boat Mail)
Heir to the 1914 Boat Mail that fed the Ceylon ferry, it now reaches Rameswaram island over India’s first vertical-lift sea bridge, opened 2025.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (7)
- Darjeeling Toy Train
A two-foot-gauge UNESCO marvel looping up to 2,200 m: steam engines older than the tea gardens they pass.
Wikipedia ↗ - Kalka–Shimla Railway
102 tunnels and 864 bridges to the Raj’s summer capital: a UNESCO line where the guard still waves flags.
Wikipedia ↗ - Konkan Railway
Monsoon country: 2,000 bridges and 91 tunnels down the palm-fringed cliffs of India’s west coast, the full run from Mumbai to Mangalore.
Wikipedia ↗ - Matheran Hill Railway
A 1907 two-foot-gauge toy train corkscrewing 21 km up to a car-free hill station: 281 curves, the “One Kiss Tunnel”, and monkeys pacing the carriages.
Wikipedia ↗ - Vande Bharat Express
Crosses the Chenab Rail Bridge: 359 m above the river, the world’s highest railway arch bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Wikipedia ↗ - Kangra Valley Railway
The world’s longest 2 ft 6 in narrow-gauge line, curling 164 km below the snow-capped Dhauladhar range on nearly 1,000 bridges.
Wikipedia ↗ - Araku Vistadome
India’s first Vistadome coach (2017) climbs the Eastern Ghats to Shimiliguda, long the country’s highest broad-gauge station at 996 m.
Wikipedia ↗
Heritage (1)
- Fairy Queen Express
Hauled by the 1855 Fairy Queen, the world’s oldest working steam locomotive, on a heritage run from Delhi out to the tiger country around Alwar.
Wikipedia ↗
Mountain (1)
- Nilgiri Mountain Railway
India’s only rack railway: X-class steam pushes the blue coaches up 1-in-12 grades from palm plains to Ooty’s tea hills; UNESCO-listed in 2005.
Wikipedia ↗
Luxury (3)
- Maharajas’ Express
IRCTC’s rolling palace: a week-long royal loop from Delhi through Ranthambore’s tigers, champagne breakfast beside the Taj, and evening prayers on the Ganges.
Wikipedia ↗ - Palace on Wheels
India’s original luxury train (1982): a week-long Rajasthan circuit in carriages styled on the private saloons of the maharajas.
Wikipedia ↗ - Deccan Odyssey
Maharashtra’s answer to the Palace on Wheels: a blue-liveried luxury rake looping the Konkan coast to the Ajanta and Ellora caves.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in India?
The Bhopal Vande Bharat, running New Delhi to Bhopal at up to 160 km/h. It is one of 31 routes in India in this atlas.
Are there night trains in India?
Yes, 5 sleeper services in this atlas serve India: Mumbai Rajdhani (New Delhi – Mumbai), Howrah Rajdhani (New Delhi – Kolkata), Island Express (Bengaluru – Kanniyakumari), Duronto Express (Mumbai – Kolkata (Howrah)), and others.
Can you cross the border by train from India?
Yes, 1 of its 31 routes continues into another country: Janakpur Railway (Jaynagar – Bijalpura).
Which is the most scenic railway in India?
India has 8 scenic or mountain lines in this atlas. The longest is the Konkan Railway, 914 km.