Trains Between Stations

Find all available trains running between your source and destination stations. Compare schedules and book your journey.

Find Trains Between Two Stations - Complete Guide

Planning a railway journey starts with finding the right train. Our Trains Between Stations tool is designed to help you discover all direct and connecting trains operating on your chosen route within seconds.

How to Search for Trains Between Stations?

Using our train search tool is quick and intuitive:

  1. From Station: Enter the name or code of your starting station (e.g., NDLS for New Delhi).
  2. To Station: Enter your destination station code or name (e.g., HWH for Howrah).
  3. Journey Date: Select your intended date of travel. This is crucial because not all trains run every day of the week.
  4. Search: Click the "Search Trains" button to view a comprehensive schedule including departure times, arrival times, and total journey durations.

Benefits of Using This Tool

  • Compare Travel Times: Easily see which train reaches your destination the fastest. Superfast, Rajdhani, and Vande Bharat trains are typically highlighted by their shorter travel durations.
  • Check Running Days: Avoid the frustration of planning a trip only to realize the train doesn't run on your selected day.
  • Plan Connections: If no direct trains are available, knowing the schedules helps you plan a journey with a stopover at a major junction.
  • Seamless Booking: Once you find a suitable train, you can immediately proceed to check seat availability and chart vacancy for that specific train.

Whether you are planning a last-minute trip or booking on the first day of the reservation window, checking the trains between stations is always the first step to a successful journey on Indian Railways.

Train Types You Will See on a Route

The same pair of stations can be served by a dozen trains that differ enormously in speed, comfort and fare. Recognising the type from the name saves a lot of guesswork:

  • Vande Bharat Express: Self-propelled, fully air-conditioned day trains offering Chair Car and Executive Chair Car, with sleeper variants on longer runs. The fastest option on most corridors that have one.
  • Rajdhani Express: Fully air-conditioned long-distance trains connecting state capitals to Delhi, with catering included in the fare and very high operational priority.
  • Shatabdi Express: Air-conditioned intercity day trains that return the same day, seating only, catering included.
  • Duronto Express: Long-distance point-to-point services with only technical halts, so a shorter end-to-end time than a comparable Express.
  • Tejas and Humsafar Express: Premium services — Tejas as a modern chair-car product, Humsafar as fully 3AC.
  • Garib Rath: Air-conditioned travel at a markedly lower fare, with denser seating and no bedroll included by default.
  • Superfast Express: Any train with an average speed above the prescribed threshold. A small superfast surcharge applies.
  • Mail / Express: The backbone of the network, with the widest mix of classes and the largest number of halts.
  • Passenger, MEMU and DEMU: Short-distance stopping services, unreserved, cheapest, and by far the slowest.

Understanding Class Codes

Every search result lists the classes a train actually carries. These codes are standard across Indian Railways:

  • 1A — First AC: lockable two- and four-berth cabins, the most expensive class.
  • 2A — AC Two Tier: two berths per tier with curtained bays and reading lights.
  • 3A — AC Three Tier: three berths per tier, the most widely booked air-conditioned class.
  • 3E — AC Three Tier Economy: a slightly denser 3A layout at a lower fare.
  • EC / CC — Executive Chair Car and Chair Car: seating classes on day trains.
  • SL — Sleeper Class: non-air-conditioned three-tier berths, the most economical reserved option.
  • 2S — Second Sitting: reserved non-AC seating on short runs.
  • GN — General / Unreserved: no seat guarantee, ticket valid for the day.

Reading the Running Days

A large share of trains do not run daily. Weekly and bi-weekly services are common on long routes, and the running days shown are those for departure from the train's originating station, not from your boarding station. On a multi-day journey, a train that leaves its origin on Tuesday may reach an intermediate station on Wednesday or Thursday — so if you are boarding mid-route, count the days the train takes to reach you before assuming it runs on your date.

When There Is No Direct Train

If your city pair has no direct service, the usual answer is to break the journey at a major junction and take two trains. The busiest interchange points are New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin in the north, Mughalsarai (Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya) and Patna in the east, Itarsi, Bhopal and Nagpur in the centre, Vijayawada and Katpadi in the south, and Kalyan, Pune and Vadodara in the west. Leave a comfortable buffer between the two legs — two to three hours is sensible, because a delay on the first leg is not the railway's problem for the second.

Reservation Windows and Quotas

Once you have chosen a train, when and under which quota you book decides your chance of confirmation:

  • General quota: Opens 60 days before the journey date, excluding the date of journey. Indian Railways reduced this Advance Reservation Period from 120 days to 60 days with effect from 1 November 2024.
  • Tatkal: Opens one day before the journey from the train's originating station — 10:00 AM for air-conditioned classes and 11:00 AM for sleeper and other non-AC classes. Tatkal carries a premium over the base fare and the ticket cannot normally be cancelled for a refund.
  • Premium Tatkal: A dynamically priced subset of the Tatkal quota where the fare rises as seats sell.
  • Reserved quotas: Ladies, Senior Citizen, Divyangjan, Duty Pass and Headquarters/Remote Location quotas each hold a small allocation with their own eligibility rules.

Journey Time, Distance and Average Speed

Two trains on the same route can differ by six hours or more. Compare the total duration rather than the departure time alone, and treat average speed as the useful figure: dividing route distance by scheduled running time tells you far more than the train's name does. Note that scheduled time already includes padding on the final legs, which is how a train running late can still arrive close to time.

After You Have Picked Your Train

Finding the train is the first step. From there:

  • Check seat availability for your class and date before booking.
  • After booking, track your PNR status for RAC and waiting-list movement.
  • On the day of travel, follow the live running status so you leave for the station at the right time.
  • If your ticket has not confirmed, check the chart vacancy after chart preparation for berths left empty.
FAQs

Trains Between Stations – Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about finding, comparing and booking trains on a route.

Enter your source and destination and the date you intend to travel. Station codes such as NDLS for New Delhi or HWH for Howrah are the most precise way to search, because many cities have several stations and a full name can be ambiguous. The date matters because a large share of trains run only on certain days of the week.

Break the journey at a major junction and book two legs. New Delhi, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Itarsi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Vijayawada, Kalyan and Vadodara are among the busiest interchange points on the network. Leave two to three hours between the two legs, because a delay on the first leg does not entitle you to any accommodation on the second.

General quota booking opens 60 days before the journey date, excluding the date of journey itself. Indian Railways reduced this Advance Reservation Period from 120 days to 60 days with effect from 1 November 2024. Tatkal opens one day before the journey at 10:00 AM for air-conditioned classes and 11:00 AM for sleeper and other non-AC classes.

A Superfast train maintains an average speed above the prescribed threshold and carries a small surcharge. Mail and Express trains are the general-purpose long-distance services with more halts and a wider mix of classes. Passenger, MEMU and DEMU services stop almost everywhere, are usually unreserved, and are the slowest and cheapest option.

No. Running days are given for departure from the train's originating station. On a journey spanning more than one day, a train that leaves its origin on Tuesday may only reach an intermediate station on Wednesday or Thursday. If you are boarding mid-route, count the days the train takes to reach you before assuming it runs on your date.

It depends on journey length and budget. For overnight travel, Sleeper Class is the most economical reserved option while 3A is the most widely booked air-conditioned class. For day journeys, Chair Car on a Vande Bharat or Shatabdi is normally the fastest. Check seat availability in your chosen class before booking, since a train appearing in the results does not mean every class still has space.