简介 去印度旅行倒底是买火车票呢，还是买印度火车通行证。这篇文章会给你个好建议。 去印度旅行是买火车票呢还是买通行证？Should you buy an IndRail pass or normal tickets..? 印度火车非常繁忙，通常要提前几周订票。尽管游客可以有特殊旅游指标，你可能还是发现你想乘坐的火车票总是预售完毕。印度铁路通行证最大的优点是你可以在英国印度铁路通行证发售机构预先订好火车票，省时省力。如果你旅游时间有限，那么最好在出发前就订好所需的票。当然如果您执意要在到达后再订印度铁路通行证也行，只不过优势就没那么明显了，而且可能还要比普通的车票贵。 印度铁路通行证的种类 有3种级别：AC1、AC2和2等车厢。预定时间是从90天到发车前半天。你可以选择半天或1天的单程火车票，也可以选择预定印度全境的长途旅行套票或是组合通行证。 通行证种类：普通印度火车有8个等级（见印度火车8种级别），但是通行证只有3种：AC1、AC2和2等车厢（2nd class ）（AC=air-conditioned空调）。持AC1通行证可搭乘AC1,空调软座 (AC executive chair car class)或其他没有AC1等车厢的便宜级别列车。持AC2通行证可搭乘AC2、普通1等卧铺（1st class sleepers ）和空调硬座（AC chair cars）。持2等车厢通行证的乘客只能坐非空调卧铺（sleeper class ）和非预定2等车厢（unreserved 2nd class）。AC1是最舒适的，但是只有在你确定你旅行的路线有这种级别的车厢时才划得来。对大多数人来说，AC2就很不错了。搭乘非空调卧铺（sleeper class ）可能会让你终身难忘，但是2等车厢通行证只适合那些很有冒险精神（或最厉害的铁公鸡型）的驴子选择。 印度铁路通信证价目表：www.indiarail.co.uk 在印度和英国以外的国家如何预定通行证？How to buy an IndRail pass - in other countries: （虽然以下的内容对大多数中国游客都不实际了，但我还是善始善终吧）你可以通过英国印度铁路通行证发售机构（SD公司， www.indiarail.co.uk)预定。虽然这是一家英国的机构，但是也承办海外游客的业务，通常对海外只出售4天以外或更长时间的通行证，半天或1天的不予办理。其他国家的类似办理机构见www.indianrail.gov.in，点信息（Information），接着点国际旅游（'International Tourist'），有马来西亚、芬兰、德国、南非的服务点地址（但是暂时还没有美国、加拿大、新西兰，所以请这些国家的游客尽量在英国机构办理）。
Indian trains are very busy and often get booked up weeks in advance. Foreign visitors can make use of the special tourist quota, but even so, you may find the train you want fully booked. The great benefit of an IndRail pass is that you can ask the UK IndRail pass agency to pre-book some or all of your trains before you get to India, saving time, hassle and possible disappointment. If you have limited time in India, this is a very good way to get all your train travel pre-booked before you leave home. On the other hand, if you intend to stay flexible and make reservations as you go, you can still do this with an IndRail pass, but there is little advantage in having one and ordinary tickets may be cheaper.
IndRail passes come in three classes: AC1, AC2, and 2nd class. You can buy one for any time period from ½-day to 90 days. You can use a ½-day or 1-day pass to book a single one-off train trip or you can arrange a complete pre-booked itinerary all around India using a longer period pass or a combination of passes.
通行证的价格比普通车票贵吗？
通行证一般比普通的单程车票要贵一些，具体情况需具体对待。如：1张从德里——瓦拉纳西的AC2等票是1271卢比（约合29美元），而1天的AC2等通行证要43美元。在英国预定一张15天的AC2通行证，停靠站点从德里——瓦拉纳西——安哥拉——斋普尔——Jaisalmer(斋沙默尔)和希姆拉需132英镑，而普通车票是118英镑。当然如果你想行程更为灵活，而在到达印度后还可买通行证（可以从旅游指标处购取），但是这样就不太划得来了，不如普通票。
An IndRail pass will probably cost more than buying normal point-to-point tickets, depending on your exact travel plans, but not necessarily that much more. A normal ticket from Delhi to Varanasi costs 1,272 rupees ($29) in AC2 class, whereas a 1-day AC2 IndRail pass costs $43. A recent trip to Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Simla all booked in advance from the UK using a 15-day AC2 pass cost £132, whereas normal point-to-point tickets would have been about £118. Of course, if you want to stay flexible and not pre-book anything before you get to India, you can still do this with an IndRail pass (passholders qualify for places from the tourist quota), but in that case there is little advantage in having a pass and normal tickets may be the better bet.
There are 8 different classes on Indian trains (see the On board Indian trains section), but IndRail passes come in just 3 types: AC1, AC2 and 2nd class (AC = air-conditioned). With an AC1 IndRail pass, you can travel in AC1, AC executive chair car class, or cheaper accommodation where there is no AC1 available. With an AC2 IndRail pass, you can travel in AC2, ordinary 1st class sleepers and AC chair cars. With a 2nd class pass, you can only travel in sleeper class and unreserved 2nd class. AC1 is most comfortable, but it's only found on the most important long-distance trains and a handful of shorter distance ones, so an AC1 pass is not worth it unless you're sure you are going to use trains which have AC1 or Executive chair class. For most people, an AC2 pass is the best bet. With an AC2 pass, you will be booked in an AC2 sleeper where available, or an AC chair car on a daytime journey where one is available, unless you specifically ask for ordinary (non-air-con) 1st class. Travelling in sleeper class is an experience, but a 2nd class pass (which allows travel in sleeper class as well as 2nd class seats) is probably only for the more adventurous (or extremely budget-conscious) traveller.
You can buy an IndRail pass, complete with any required train reservations, via the UK's IndRail agency (SD Enterprises, www.indiarail.co.uk). Although they are the UK agency, they are normally happy to arrange passes and reservations for people from overseas, although they will only sell 4-day and longer passes to people living outside the UK, not one-day or half-day passes. For a list of IndRail pass agencies in other countries, go to www.indianrail.gov.in, click 'Information' then 'International Tourist'. There are IndRail agencies in Malaysia, Finland, Germany & South Africa, but surprisingly not currently in the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. If you're from one of these countries, try contacting the UK agency.
