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Taking Dollars just means you pay two lots of exchange fees. Anyone that accepts Dollars in India is ripping you off. Get rupees here in the UK, or take the money out from ATMs in India. Definitely don't use the bureaux de change at Indian airports, the rates are terrible.

The Amagasaki derailment in 2005 (which caused many deaths) involved a SPAD a few minutes earlier. So I suspect that each incident involving a SPAD is attributed to the most serious category - e.g. a SPAD which is connected to a derailment is put down as a derailment, not both a SPAD and a...

For a long time, I thought the train drivers say Shingo, which means Signal. But they're actually saying Shinko (進行) which means progress forward, as in 'Go'. That's why they never say it on a Stop signal.

Are you sure about that? I'm really struggling to think of any JR lines or major private railways that are automatic. Are some of the metro lines automatic in places?

There is also a clear expectation on the part of all that passengers will be actively observing everything the driver does. On many local trains now there is a sign (in Japanese) on the window explaining that the driver may from time to time use a mobile phone to deal with unexpected situations...

I can't find a record of a Tamagachi station - are you sure you have that right? The really important question is where in Japan you are intending to visit. Your post suggests that you are focussing in on the Tokyo area. Is that the case, or are you intending to go elsewhere? In any case, if...

Are you British passport holders? If so, you can use the India e-visa service, which will normally be the cheapest and quickest way, and you don't have to send off your passport. The site is https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html - there are a number of other sites that provide exactly...

Watch out for the scams at both ends of this journey - in Delhi from people pretending to be railway staff and telling you that your train is cancelled and how they can book you a 'replacement car', and from taxi touts in Agra taking you the 'scenic' route to The Taj Mahal.

It is around a 20 minute taxi ride from the centre of Amritsar. But check whether the ceremony is on - recently it has been cancelled a lot because of cross border tension. The ceremony itself is fun, if perhaps a little 'loud'. If you are going to Amritsar, the Golden Temple is really good.

One thing to bear in mind is the (intentional) high degree of common design in Japanese commuter stock. A 40 year old Japanese commuter train feels very similar to a brand new one. This is because there is significant emphasis on doors being in exactly the same position into the station, and...

On Indian trains the horn is blown before starting to let the passengers know. The doors are left open all of the time on commuter trains in Mumbai/Bombay in all but the heaviest monsoons. Without the horn, it would be quite easy to come acropper when trying to board or alight the and trains...

CST is a curious station (hardly anyone calls it its full name Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus). It serves 2 lines on High Frequency services (The Central Line with seperate Fast and Slow trains, and the Harbour Line). If I remember correctly, all of those services use around 7 platforms...

While connected, some of those platforms really are very far from the main station - it could easily take 20 minutes once you have navigated the various stairs and tunnels. However, since virtually all of the services are running on metro frequencies, most people don't worry about the timetable...

I agree - buying in advance is completely pointless, since the machine that gives you the top up will also issue you the orginal card. It will also be more expensive than purchasing in Japan (because of transaction fees). At both Narita and Haneda airports there are JR stations issuing Suica -...

Drivers in Japan only do this if there is someone standing or walking over the yellow line (normally about 50 cm from the platform edge) as they approach.

Japan, being a predominantly mountainous country has very bendy track for most of its non-Shinkansen routes outside of the cities. It is the same reason why it uses narrow gauge. And on many routes, there are stations every couple of kilometres (The Yamanote Line has 29 stations on a 35km loop)...

Green class is equivalent to First class. Gran Class is 'super-luxury'. The standard class doesn't have a special designation. Seats in Standard class are pretty variable. Not great on local and commuter trains (largely longitudinal seating, even for long journeys). Some of the old intercity...

Different lines can be quite different to each other. I have found that most of the JR lines (including the Yamonote) are relatively conservative in the way they accelerate and brake. But contrast that with some of the private lines such as the Keikyu in Tokyo or the Hankyu in Osaka. Those...

I think this is why JR Hokkaido is offering the local Government to financially support many of the services. While the various JR companies are arguably still semi-nationalised, it is clear that they are trying to get on to a commercial footing. JR Kyushu has just had an IPO, and this seems...

It's really easy to forget how massive and sparesely populated Hokkaido is. It's really sad, but seems rational. It's really pretty up there. If only the Japanese were better at promoting it as a tourist destination. It seems that very few go from abroad, unless it is for winter sports.