Every year during the festive season, visuals abound of travellers scrambling to find space in crowded trains. The vast majority of this rush stems from millions of Indians, mostly labourers, making their way back home to states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to spend time with their families.

The journey is rarely easy—many trains are delayed by hours, some are cancelled at the last minute, and waiting lists for berths often run into the hundreds. For all of this, though, trains remain jam-packed as they remain among the most affordable options for long-distance travel.