Trains are India’s backbone. They link villages and megacities, carry workers and students, and cross plains and mountains. Delays are part of the way. A twelve hour route can turn into twenty. In one month I travelled 6,797 miles, about 10,940 kilometres, to feel the country at the pace of its carriages.

Train travel in India means stepping into a country that fits inside a carriage. There is quiet and chatter, heat and fresh chai, vendors weaving through, luggage strapped to racks and a constant flow of people. The wisest plan is no rigid plan. Delays happen, timetables stretch, and the journey writes itself.

Classes shape different experiences. AC 2 Tier has air-conditioning and two tier berths with curtains for some privacy. AC 3 Tier keeps the air-conditioning and offers six berths per bay. Sleeper is open, without air-conditioning, six berths and the cadence of the night. Second Class has hard seats and unreserved places. Chair Car provides seated rows for daytime routes. In all of them you find stories and encounters.

Sleeper and Second Class bring everyday India closest. Conversations by gesture when English is thin, simple questions that open doors, spontaneous sharing of water and spicy food. Doors open at stations, air rushing through the windows, seats turning into beds, and the feeling that the country expands with the rhythm of the train. Late or not, the train arrives. And when it does, you carry more than you brought.