TRAIN, Mumbai

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Churchgate is the terminus station on the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It gets its name from Church Gate street (now Veer Nariman Road) which lines on the immediate south of the station. Up to 1931, Colaba was the southernmost station, however the rail line was removed beyond Churchgate, making Churchgate the southernmost station. Churchgate is also the headquarters of the Western Railway/

Today, the station is one of the busiest stations in the city. Millions of residents living in the suburbs alight at this station to get to their offices in the business districts of south Mumbai. The station has only 4 platforms but the frequency at which the trains arrive and depart from these 4 platforms is simply amazing.

A map with train routes and numbers, I include the website, you will also need this website to check the train table number which is the one you going to need.
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Tag2007/index.htm

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I booked my train ticket at www.irctc.co.in, this is the online booking site of the Indian Railways. It's so very easy to book, pay online, print the e-ticket, very convenient and you just have to show up at the station.

I did showed up at the station 2 hours before the departure time of 8:00pm, which is in fact very early, my first time so I thought ts the same with airports. 1 hour to 30 minutes before the departure is just fine. They display the names of the passengers with details like the carriage # and assigned seat on the notice board located just beside the counters. I did not find my name there and the train has already arrived and leaving after an hour. I got worried but I decided to get near the train and check the list which is posted on the entrance of the carriage. I booked AC 2-tier (2A), so I went to that carriage and check the list....and as expected my name is on that list.

So if you did not find your name on the board, check the carriages.

AC 2-tier carriage is airconditioned, my seat is adjacent to the windows, so I get to see the sights while lying down. There's another bed on top of me, and 4 beds on the opposite side. You can seat during daytime and convert it to bed during night time. The train staff distributes bedsheets and blankets. The curtain is convenient too and will cover your space to avoid disturbance during your slumber.

There are no restaurants of sorts but the staff will come to you and ask you if you want to order the food, only one menu, it was always Indian vegetarian packed food - vegetables in curry or masala sauce and yellow rice with onions, and a roti bread. So if you're not sure if you will like the food they sell, then bring your own.

Each train carriage has toilets located at both ends, 2 each carriage, so there're like 4 for the 2 connecting carriages. One toilet is Indian seat and the other have toilet bowl. It has small basin, electric fan, fawcets and small tin can that you could use to fill water for cleaning your....you know what.

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The train is strictly non-smoking. Unless you dare to smoke inside the toilet, I saw passengers doing that. Train stations in India is also non-smoking, so you have to go out of the station premise to be able to smoke.

You won't get bored - burn the time talking to the people on-board, watch the sights - go to the end of the train where you could stand on the entrance door for a better view of the passing sceneries, I did this most of the time during the 24-hour trip.

Everytime the train stops at stations, I have to get down to cut the monotony of having to be always inside the train, and also to buy some snacks or drink tea or buy something to read - yup! they sell lotsa books and publications at train stations. But be alert to hear the wistle signaling that the train is about to move.

It's fun, cheaper than air travel, comfortable and it's almost like a part of the travel itinerary.

Foreign Tourist Counter

Across the street from Chrichgate is the booking/resevation office, one staircase beyond the tourist office. Very nice, competent, patient staff make life easy to get the reservations to your dream destinations. They can also help with changes to tickets booked on the internet.

Always convenient to book one's tickets on Indian Railways website:

www.irctc.co.in

You may now book online for tickets from any place to any destination on the internet from Mumbai and most major cities and get your tickets home (or hotel) delivered by courier. This facility is available at present in Mumbai and many other major cities and is a very easy way to book tickets for journeys inbetween any two places on the whole Indian Railways network. The website is www.irctc.co.in and you can pay by credit card!!! So happy bookings and safe journeys on the Indian Rails!!!

One must experience the Mumbai electric Train once just to get an idea of how most common people commute. Also hold on to your valuables when you do so.... also if you take the train at peak hours start moving to the exit well before you reach the station or most likely will not be able to get out...

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Three of the popular tourist destinations out of Mumbai stations are to Poona, Goa or Delhi.
Mumbai is a prominent railway hub of the country. It is the headquarters to two railway zones, central and western. While Central Railways handles services to the East and South, Western Railways caters to the North from Churchgate and Mumbai Central stations. The main railway station Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) formerly known as Victoria Terminus (VT) is located in the heart of the city. Local and outstation trains ply from here. Dadar, Lokmanyatilak and Kurla are other major railway stations.

If travelling down south to Trandrum via Goa, then almost certainly you will be on the Konkan line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konkan_Railway

It departs currently from Lokmanyatilak so ensure you allow up to an hour to get from areas like the Gatway to India in the city to the station as it is quite some way out by taxi