DehraDun Railway Station
The railway station in Dehradun is pretty much in mid of the city. The place is located near Gandhi road, Prince Chowk and lies behind the Tyagi Road, there are two lanes meeting at the railway station, one is from the front and the other is from beside. The entry which is not from the main road, connects the station with Tyagi road, you may remember this Tyagi Road is the lane with Hotels like Hotel Atithi, Sangam, Ashok, Anandam etc. The other route is the one connecting Saharnpur Chowk and Prince Chowk. Most of the public autos be it number 8, 5, or 3 passes through the U-turn of the station. The most prominent part about the station is that it is adjacent to Mussoorie Bus Stand, from where you can get buses enroute Mussoorie and other hill locations like Dhanaulty. There is a proper counter at the Mussoorie bus stand for travel enquiries and bus tickets booking.
Next, near the bus stand or you may say opposite to it is the taxi stand, from where you can book taxis to various tourist places and picnic spots across Dehradun like Buddha temple, Dhanaulti, Robber's Cave (Gucchu Pani), Tapkeshwar, FRI etc. You can also book taxis for long routes. Beside that taxi stand is the Parking space, where you can put your vehicles, safe and sound for travelling via train to other destinations.
There is a prepaid auto stand, at DehraDun railway station to assist the tourists who do not want to spend time in negotiating with auto drivers. Other than autos, the other options to travel from Railway Station are eRikshaw, Vikram, local bus and OLA cabs.
eRikshaws are pollution free battery operated eRikshaws and offer the pleasant experience to the commuters.
Vikram and local bus service are the shared modes of transport. They offer cheap transport service but at the cost of convenience.
Now that you are aware of the surroundings, one thing peculiar about the railway station you will notice is the authentic traditional, British Indian structure of the building of the station, typical red bricked with some yellow lined wall. It looks so old yet classy, gives you a feel of the pre-Independence era, but yes, it is well maintained, even the maintenance work is continuously done in the station.
As you enter the station, there you will find, the enquiry counters, now there is something special about the counters here, there is a separate counter for army personnels due to the presence of IMA here. There are normal counters as well and you will find a board put up there for the schedule of the trains.
Now you are on the platform, as you enter from the gate, to your right would be the canteen of the railways, they have got healthy food that will satiate your fatigue to say well. There are various delicacies like thali combinations, parathas, various other edible snacks, ready to eat meal. There are other materials as well like chips, cold drinks, etc., almost everything you may need for a trip. There are fixed seats all along the platform, for your convenience. You may also find the foot overbridge, to conveniently cross the platforms and reach the last one or second last one.
Near the canteen area is the waiting room, there is a separate room for females, there are clean lavatories (toilets), you will not feel any discomfort. The platform has four sides, majorly the one to the extreme end towards the entry gate is most used and almost all trains halt there. There are two stalls of magazines, newspapers and books, two static snacks stall, one moving stall of tea etc. The platform is quite huge.
Now there are multiple trains running from here to major cities near Uttarakhand and within Uttarakhand as well. As Dehradun is the capital city, mostly all trains pass through Dehradun, it is an important station and connects many places to Uttarakhand.
If you stand near the Mussoorie bus stand you will get ample ways to reach various spots in Dehradun through local black and yellow small autos, you can use whole auto all by yourself if you have much luggage,they may charge approximately 150 rupees, else you may see blue color vikrams (tempos), loitering around, these are numbered here, don't forget to ask the route from the driver, then only take the vikram, because they go through specific routes only and they won't diverge in mid way even if they are taking you in wrong direction altogether, you have to be cautious about that, eventhough the crowd in Dehradun is quite helpful, caring and you will not get lost there.
Now, if you are facing some untoward situation and you are in dire need of money or any utility, there is a HDFC atm at Saharnpur chowk, which would be near from station, you have to take a tempo from the same side of the station, on the opposite side of the road, you will get tempos for Prince Chowk, Gandhi road, Clock Tower (Ghanta Ghar), Paltan Market and Rajpur road. There are small sized public buses too, which you may like to take on, well they drive almost like pilots, always in air!! (pun intended), but yes seriously they drive hell crazy, but makes you reach hell quick too.
If you are really hungry and searching something to eat, just cross the road, reach the one which is going towards Prince chowk, there are many small eateries along the line, vegetarian one especially, take a vikram and stall as you locate any to vikram's left side. But if you are craving for non vegetarian food, then you may go ahead in the vikram and get a drop on Gandhi Road, the area has some of the best non vegetarian food available in Dehradun. Near Prince chowk, you will find hotels too for convenient accommodation.
Coming to Dehradun via train is always a good option, especially if you are travelling from areas near Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and all, because the highway connecting these parts to Uttarakhand, especially Dehradun are not in a good state. Other than that the trains are convenient, you can now book online, which saves your time and energy. And Dehradun is a prolific destination for summers especially. It is way too pleasant than other plain areas, the place gets regular rainfall which makes it all the more enjoyable.
While travelling via train, one thing you should make sure, if you are coming in dead night, like around 12 to 4, its better to spend some time in the waiting hall, because, in those wee hours you are less likely to get autos or tempos neither buses, as there is hardly any night life in Dehradun, the station gets quite empty at times.
But it is safe and sound for sure. Eventhough these days, the stations are not that silent, being change in the trend as people are preferring more to travel in night times, saving the day time for work.
I guess, we have almost covered everything you may need if you are going somewhere from Dehradun via train or coming from somewhere to Dehradun through train travel. If you think there is something left, you may always forward your queries.
Have a happy, safe and pleasant journey..........
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