After about four days of scheduling, scheming and countless of cups of chai I have arrived at the following route, travelling clockwise around the rails of India. This involves 18 train journeys in 20 days, over 12,000km of train track, 15 nights on board trains and 2 very cheeky taxi rides (can’t be helped I’m afraid due to the lack of trains running in far flung places).
DAY 1. New Delhi to New Jalpaiguri
DAY 2. In transit
DAY 3. New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling (for afternoon tea), overnight stop in Darjeeling
DAY 4. Darjeeling to Ghum (the highest railway station), Ghum to New Jalpaiguri, New Jalpaiguri to Guwahati
DAY 5. Guwahati to Ledo, Assam (the Easternmost train station)
DAY 6. Ledo to New Tinsukia (by Taxi), Ledo to Guwahati
DAY 7. Guwahati to Howrah (Kolkata)
DAY 8. Howrah to Chennai
DAY 9. Chennai to Rameswaram (the lowest train station, at sea level via ocean bridge)
DAY 10. Rameswaram to Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu (the Southernmost train station)
DAY 11. Overnight stop in Kanyakumari
DAY 12. Kanyakumari to Trivandrum, Trivandrum to Panvel
DAY 13. In transit
DAY 14. Panvel to Mumbai, Mumbai to Ahmedabad
DAY 15. Ahmedabad to Varvala, Gujarat (the Westernmost train station)
DAY 16. Varvala to Dwarka (by Taxi), Dwarka to Ahmedabad, overnight stop in Ahmedabad
DAY 17. Ahmedabad to Jammu Tawi
DAY 18. Overnight stop in Jammu
DAY 19. Jammu Tawi to Udhampur, Kashmir (the Northernmost train station), Udhampur to New Delhi
DAY 20. Arrival in New Delhi (in time for tea)
If you have a perverse interest in the exact timings, names and distances of each train that I will be taking, then here is a chart which details them (click on it to see the full size):
And for all you cartographic connoisseurs, I have plotted the same route onto a map as you will see below. Key stations and stops are marked in bold:
