The photographs accompanying this post showcase trains from around the world, including sleek high-speed trains, historic locomotives, mountain railways, and everyday commuter services. Though they differ in design, speed, and geography, they all share something remarkable: the ability to connect people, places, and stories.

For generations, train journeys have captured the imagination of writers, artists, and storytellers. From mysteries unfolding aboard luxurious express trains to travelogues chronicling adventures across continents in unglamorous carriages, countless stories have been born on railway tracks.

In India, especially during the era of steam engines, train journeys often stretched over several days. Families arrived at stations with an astonishing amount of luggage: steel tiffin carriers packed with aloo puri and mango pickle, flasks of tea, water bottles, and the indispensable holdall. Made of thick khaki canvas, the holdall could accommodate clothes, toiletries, bedsheets, towels, spare chappals, and almost anything else a traveller might need. Once packed, it was rolled tightly, secured with straps, and carried with pride.

After everyone settled into the train, strangers were no longer strangers. They became temporary companions on a shared adventure. Food was exchanged freely, children raced through the aisles, and endless rounds of cards, antakshari, and unfiltered political discussions kept boredom at bay. Window seats were prized possessions. Through them, passengers watched green fields, sleepy villages, winding rivers, grazing cattle, and children enthusiastically waving at passing trains.

Night transformed the journey. Conversations gradually faded, reading lights glowed softly, and stations appeared briefly in the darkness like islands of light before vanishing again. Holdalls were opened, bedding unfurled, and berths transformed into bedrooms. The gentle rocking of the train lulled passengers to sleep. By morning, fellow travellers who had met only hours earlier often felt like old acquaintances. Long journeys had a way of creating temporary communities.

Train journeys have inspired some of literature’s most memorable moments. Writers such as Ruskin Bond, Khushwant Singh, and R. K. Narayan have all used trains as settings, symbols, or companions in their stories. In Train to Pakistan, Khushwant Singh used the railway to portray the tragedy and upheaval of Partition. Internationally, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express remains one of the most celebrated railway mysteries ever written.

Much has changed since those days. Steam locomotives have largely given way to electric engines, modern coaches, air-conditioned compartments, online reservations, and increasingly faster trains. Yet some things remain unchanged. The landscape outside the window still unfolds like a moving film. The rhythmic sound of wheels on tracks continues to soothe travellers. One wonders whether the chai vendors calling out at stations still thrive; somehow, tea served on a train always tastes better than tea served anywhere else. And with wheeled suitcases replacing traditional holdalls, do the porters balancing impossible towers of luggage on their heads still find enough work?

Airplanes may be faster and cars more convenient, but neither can compete with the romance of a train journey. Rajesh Khanna couldn’t have sung “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu” to Sharmila Tagore if she had been travelling in an aeroplane or in a car.

Puffing Billy, a heritage steam train through the Dandenong Ranges, is one of the most iconic rail journeys in Australia. It is a narrow-gauge steam railway that has been running since 1900. The open-sided carriages mean passengers can dangle their legs over the edge of a moving train.

The White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad in Alaska is like stepping into a living storybook filled with breathtaking views.

A train passing through a congested area in Delhi.

Stopover just outside Varanasi.

Photos and text by Prerna Jain.