I went to Rawalpindi from Karachi last week by bus and came back with a team of 9 people by train. There is a lot of difference in both ways however, I enjoyed both of the travelling. The big difference is you cannot move or lie down in bus whereas in train, you have a berth where you can sleep and can move and stretch yourself all the way. The negative point is train mostly gets delay and never be on time due to many other reasons whereas bus takes you to your destination well before time and never gets delay unless encounter a very serious matter.
There are many categories and classes of seats in train however, 80% of people travel in economy class which is affordable and convenient. I have experienced almost every class. This time we were travelling in economy class of Rehman Baba train. We reached railway station of Rawalpindi well before time and boarded the train perfectly.
It’s a long journey which takes 24-26 hours from Rawalpindi to Karachi. We have taken the home made food with ourselves in order to avoid station food which could cause food poisoning and its risky. The weather was hot so we have kept a cooler full of ice as well and a small gallon of water.
I have never taken so many pictures in train as I did this time just to share the beauty of Pakistan with Hive friends. There are so many villages, cities, farms, animals, and so many other things on the way.
I avoid eating while travelling so not to have the situation to use toilets. using toilet in moving train is really hard thing to do.
I also dont sleep much and like to keep an eye on our luggage. I hardly slept for 3-4 hours that is too when everyone was awake.
A cup of tea is enough to keep you moving.
There are mobile charging shops at railway stations. Batteries get drained and there is nothing in trains to get them charged, people keep power bank with them or the other option is to have mobile charged when there is half an hour stop at some station as we had at Multan.
There is a lever in all coaches for emergency brake but pulling that will cost a penalty of PKR 2000. I never tried it but I think its in the condition that it wont work anyway.
The main reason of train getting delay is unexpected stops, mostly due to giving way to other trains. Not getting green signal to pass, such activities delays and it normally delays 2-3 hours which is not considered delay for trains, people easily absorb such delays.
We also played Ludo in moving train which was a tough job but to pass the time, we have to engage and try to do something.
We had a wonderful journey together and I really like watching those villages on the way, I hope someday I plan to live there for a week or so and experience their way of living. I bet it wont be easy but it would be interesting and exciting to accept this challenge. Living with simple people who don't run for money and do hard work all day and night to give us their supplies would be a wonderful experience.
All above pictures are taken through my and my brother's cell phone Moto E4 and Infinix Hot8.