It is unlikely that someone arriving in Delhi will remain in this certainly interesting city for the entire trip. Most travelers stop at Main Bazaar for 2-3 days, and then go further - some to the Himalayas, some to the ocean, some to wander through ancient temples, and some want to combine the first, and the second, and the third. So the question of how to move around the country is sure to arise.
Airplane
The fastest way is, of course, by plane: in a few hours you can cross the whole country and fly from Leh to Kanyakumari. But it is also the most expensive: such a flight is slightly cheaper than a flight from Moscow to India. Fortunately, there are a number of low-cost airline companies that offer such services much cheaper, but with significant restrictions: minimum free baggage allowance, no free meals on board. True, if you fly for a couple of hours, the latter can be neglected, and in the waiting room, waiting for boarding, you can always have a snack. As such a carrier, I can recommend IndiGo - the flight by this company from Ahmedabad to Bhubaneswar, that is, in general, across the country from west to east, cost me 8,000 rupees. If you plan your trip in advance, you can fly away with a significant discount - the cost of a ticket when purchased in a month is almost half as much as in a week.
A train
The train is the most common way to travel in India. Inexpensive, not particularly late (although anything can happen). True and not fast - it takes about two days to get from Delhi to Chennai.
Trains are of different categories. The most common trains are Mail (goes slowly, stopping at most stations) and Express (goes faster, the most common option). Higher class Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express (stop only in large cities, they have only air-conditioned cars) and Duronto Express (connect the largest cities in India, follow without stops).
The trains have carriages with varying degrees of comfort. First, there are three classes of air-conditioned wagons. The most comfortable, but also expensive (a trip in it is comparable in price to a low-cost flight) - 1AC. This is a two-seater compartment with closing doors. 2AC differs from it in that there is no door, and the four-seater compartment is fenced off from the passage by a curtain. Travel in it is about half the price of the previous class (this is generally a rule - each subsequent class is about half the price of the previous one). The 3AC is practically our reserved seat, with an open compartment and two side shelves in front of it, but there is a difference: the compartment has not 4, but 6 shelves. During the day, the middle shelf is lowered to form a backrest for the lower shelf, and its occupant also sits below. This is a very good option for traveling, I usually ride either in this class or in a sleeper. Another class, also air-conditioned, is cheaper than 3AC, but more expensive than a sleeper, is the FC, an air-conditioned carriage with seating. It is not found in all trains, but only in the following for short distances, up to 12 hours.
SL, Sleeper is the most popular class of carriages. It, like the third air-conditioned one, has three rows of shelves in the compartment and two side shelves, but there is no air conditioner - the fans work instead - and the windows in the windows are usually raised (during the rain or on a winter night they can be lowered). Another feature of the sleeper is that if outsiders are not allowed into the cars of higher classes, then sellers of something (for example, tea, coffee and a very tasty tomato soup), collectors of donations from various religious organizations, children, go in these cars all the time, singing for a couple of rupees and just beggars. It follows from this that when traveling as a sleeper, you need to carefully monitor your belongings so that they do not start the journey regardless of the owner. Chains with locks are sold at train stations, and you need to fasten things to the shelves with them.
There are also second class cars. These are the same three shelves, but tickets for these cars are sold without specifying the place. Since travel in them is very cheap, people are packed in them and a trip in such a carriage is really extreme, although in some cases (you are in Bangalore, a plane to Moscow the day after tomorrow, and there are no other tickets) such cars will be an option.
Train tickets are sold at the station, but not at the ticket counter”ah (tickets for local trains are sold there), but at the Ticket reservation center, which is often located in a separate building. There you need to take a special form, fill it out, indicating the station of departure and destination, date, number or name of the train and personal data. After standing in a long queue, you will receive either a ticket with a seat, or a number in the whiting list. The latter means that you may well not leave on the required date. You will have to go to the station, look at the whiting list, see your carriage number and seat (or not see if the seat has not become free). In the latter case, all that remains is to tearfully ask the conductor to let him go without a place and ride on things in the vestibule until some place becomes free. You can avoid this if you buy a ticket in advance according to the limit for foreigners. Fortunately, large cities have booking centers for foreigners, for example, at the New Delhi train station, this is located on the second floor in the main building. There you can and should buy tickets for the entire trip at once. Another option is to purchase tickets in advance through the cleartrip.com website, but there is a catch - you need a phone with an Indian sim card to register on this site, so it's difficult to do this when planning a trip from Russia. On the other hand, on this website, you can see in advance various options for train timetables and plan a trip in this way.
Bus
Another option for traveling in India is the intercity bus. They go up to 500-600 kilometers and are inexpensive (the price is about the same as a 3 AC trip). It often happens that it is easier to get to a city that is relatively close, but on another railway line, by bus - for example, trains from Ernakulam go either along the sea coast to Goa, or through the mountains to Chennai, and in the direction of Mysore and There are no trains to Bangalore. In this case, you will have to go by bus.
State bus stations usually operate local routes, while long-distance routes are organized by private companies. A ticket for such a route can be bought at many travel agencies, which are usually located either in the city center or at the station. The point of departure or destination may or may not coincide with the city bus station - it often happens that the bus departs from a shopping center of such and such, a city market, a large hotel. This should be carefully ascertained when buying a ticket.
