# 3rd Class in India



## caravanman (May 10, 2009)

I came across this pic of myself taken aboard a train in Rajasthan, India in 1984. Think of those wooden seats next time you sit in your comfy amtrak armchairs!







Ed B)


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## jis (May 10, 2009)

caravanman said:


> I came across this pic of myself taken aboard a train in Rajasthan, India in 1984. Think of those wooden seats next time you sit in your comfy amtrak armchairs!


These days they have nice plastic hard seats  like on New York subway in the suburban trains in India. Officially 3rd class does not exist anymore. The lowest class is second class.

Amtrak seats and specially seat pitch is outright luxurious compared to standard AC Chair Car seats in India, which by the way are 3-2 per row. AC Executive Class is 2-2 per row.


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## caravanman (Oct 6, 2009)

I haven't been very active on Amtrak Unlimited recently* .. but I have just booked to visit India for a month in December this year.. Not sure where I am going yet, but I am positive that I will be traveling a few miles on the Indian rail system again. Upper class this time! *(Romance in the air!)

Cheers,

Ed


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## jis (Oct 6, 2009)

Good for you 

Non-upholstered seats can now only be found in suburban commuter trains. All LD train accommodation has some level of upholstery. Even the lowliest non-airconditioned Sleepers have upholstered berths. Officially there is no third class anymore, though there is an accommodation referred to as 3AC (or T on the side of the coach), which denotes 3 Tier AC Sleeping accommodation.

Recently they have introduced a higher density version of 3AC which is denoted by "G" outside the carriage which carries the sardine stuffing to the extreme by hanging a middle berth between the upper and the lower berth on the corridor side of what otherwise would be a 3AC, and this provides probably the cheapest ariconditioned sleeping accommodation anywhere in the world.

BTW, I will be in India between the 16th of Dec and 2nd Jan. I will be traveling New Delhi to Howrah by 2302 Rajdhani by 1AC.


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## gaspeamtrak (Oct 9, 2009)

jis said:


> Good for you
> Non-upholstered seats can now only be found in suburban commuter trains. All LD train accommodation has some level of upholstery. Even the lowliest non-airconditioned Sleepers have upholstered berths. Officially there is no third class anymore, though there is an accommodation referred to as 3AC (or T on the side of the coach), which denotes 3 Tier AC Sleeping accommodation.
> 
> Recently they have introduced a higher density version of 3AC which is denoted by "G" outside the carriage which carries the sardine stuffing to the extreme by hanging a middle berth between the upper and the lower berth on the corridor side of what otherwise would be a 3AC, and this provides probably the cheapest ariconditioned sleeping accommodation anywhere in the world.
> ...


Hey Jis! I hope you will take a few pictures for us and a small story of your trip?


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## Shanghai (Oct 14, 2009)

You were brave to take that trip. I took the train from Qingdao to Shanghai several years ago in the dead of winter when the airport was closed due to a heavy

snowstorm. We were in First Class, which meant we had heat!! Not sure if I would do it again!!


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