Train Delays in India, how severe?
 

I am going to take train # 19665 from Khajuraho and stop in Agra, Jaipur, and Udaipur in February. I heard that during January and February there is insane amounts of fog in northern India. I am avoiding Delhi altogether because during my trip I will have already seen Mumbai and Kolkata and dont need to see another huge Indian city (maybe next time). ...and I've heard the fog is bad there, but is also bad in all of northern india.

I am worried about the delays that people talk about. I'm giving myself TWICE the posted amount on indian railways's website and giving myself ample time, but I've heard that the delays during the winter sometimes can be DAYS?! I have a flight back to the states I have to catch in Mumbai, and I'm just wondering how severe the delays will be during this time.

If it worries you plan to get to Mumbai earlier. India is no place to be in a hurry but to proceed at India's pace, not yours. I'd suggest that you see Mumbai at the end of your trip, not at the beginning (if I understand you correctly), so it won't be a concern.

BTW, Delhi is a place I enjoy very much and you may want to give it a try. It's never had "another huge Indian city" feel to me.

Anyone, no matter how ample their timeline is, is still on a timeline and must manage their time accordingly.

I'm giving myself a month to do
Mumbai-Goa Train
Goa- Kolkata Plane
Kolkata-Varanasi Train
Varanasi - Khajuraho Plane
Khajuraho - Agra Train
Agra- Jaipur - Train
Jaipur - Udaipur - Train
Udaipur - Mumbai - Train

I am seeing Mumbai at the beginning AND end of my trip, as it's the city I fly in and out of. I'm sure Delhi is great, but it'll will have to wait for another India trip.

So... back to the original question... how long are the delays on indian trains, and how often do outrageous delays (days) take. I am not attempting to rush anything but I still feel I can give myself a timeline and expectations. I want to know how much buffer I should give myself.

Oh dear, I seem to have offended in some way if I'm right in detecting attitude.

Asking for a definitive "how long" or even "if" is, I'm sure you must know if you think about it, impossible to say. I don't recall ever being unduly delayed but I'm sure it happens. Check your train number here for a few days and get a general idea:
http://traintimes.in/

I have been delayed, but not by more than a couple of hours. Of course, it is silly to ask anyone to predict the delay on a specific train at some time in the future. However, you are more likely to find someone who has taken that specific train some time in the past on indiamike than here. Flying might actually be worse.

To the OP: is this your first trip to India?

You didn't offend in anyway, nor am I giving attitude.

This is my first time in India, and I'm going to be by myself so I just kind of need to know how frequent. I lived in China for 3 years, I've traveled throughout South East Asia, Russia and Latin America... so I get the concept of moving at the local pace... and I get the delays.

I guess I'm trying to gauge the magnitude of the inefficiency in transport... is it chronic? is it occasional? And is it usually a couple of hours, or do trains get cancelled all together and people are stuck in towns unable to move on? Also, does anyone have experience traveling in January/February around Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, etc?

I'm planning on trains taking twice as long as posted on the website, and giving myself time buffers.... and precisely because I want to move at India's pace, I want to know these details. I don't want to be that bitchy American that's complaining loudly in Udaipur that I have a flight to catch the next day in Mumbai. :-)

Do you know about this site: http://seat61.com/India.htm#

And this: http://www.indiamike.com/india/indian-railways-f10/

I would expect delays in terms of hours, not days. The better (i.e. faster) the train, the more likely it is to run on time. However, the best way not to be that ugly American is to allow for a couple of days in Mumbai at the end of your trip. You've got a month, you can afford to do that.

The fog is at its worst in late November and December. Jan will be a crapshoot. By Feb you should be OK. I don't believe there are fog issues with Rajasthan; it is mostly the Delhi and Agra areas. In any event, the fog is in the early morning and evening, so if you take day trains you are better off. If you take overnight trains, you may be delayed, but you will be in a sleeper and probably won’t care so much.

Fog issues aside, the superfast “Shatabdi Express” and “Rajdhani Express” trains do have better on-time records than the slower locals. They get priority on the rails. So if you can take those that may help. You could take #12996 the Super-Fast train from Udaipur to Mumbai for example. (From what I can see of the schedule, that is a 16-hour journey for a distance of about 600 miles. I have been told this is because of the size of the rail gauge; it changes in the middle or something and slows the trip down. You can fly between the Udaipur and Mumbai in about 2 hours. So you might want to consider that. As a comparison, you can go from Kolkata to Varanasi, a trip of about 400 miles, in 8 hours on the fast train. )

If you have lived in the PRC for 3 years, then you may be familiar with delays, esp of flights. In my experience, I think flights India are on-time more so than PRC. Trains can have chronic delays, but I think that is rare. Also, you can perhaps be flexible with your schedule and not try to hit every place on your itin if you run into delays.

Jan and Feb is chockablock with tourists in Rajasthan, so bear that in mind. For hotels of any level you may need an advance booking. For trains, esp sleepers, you should reserve now.

Great advice from cicerone, except that you can't book trains for most of Jan or any of Feb yet. Booking opens 60 days in advance. You will probably need to use cleartrip.com rather than the Indian railways website. Do read seat61.com, where you will find out about quotas and wait lists and the Indrail pass.

I'm planning on just using IRCTC since I have an AMEX card. Indiamike was extremely helpful.

Cicerone, yours was a great helpful answer, thanks! I can deal with the annoying half-day delays... I have plenty of books and music, and I don't mind arriving at places at 1am if there's a way to get to my place. And glad to hear that fog may not be as big a problem as I had initially anticipated.

I am considering flying from Udaipur to Mumbai as well, as it seems quite cheap.

Does anyone have any experience using indiafly.com ?