India is infamous for scams.
Unfortunately, I almost became one of the victims myself.
This time, I want to talk about a scam I nearly fell for at New Delhi Railway Station.
The Chaos of New Delhi Railway Station
That day, I was supposed to take a train from New Delhi to Agra.
By then, I had already spent about a month traveling around South India, so I was fairly used to Indian trains.
In India, stories about tourists getting ripped off by train ticket agents are endless.
Because of that, using the railway booking app “ixigo” is considered the safest option among travelers.
That day, I had booked an upper berth on the 11:35 a.m. AC 3 Tier Sleeper train.
Expecting New Delhi’s infamous traffic, I left my hostel early and arrived at the station around 10 a.m.
But the area outside the station was absolute chaos.
I had never seen so many cars and people packed into one place in my life.
Scammers and touts kept approaching me nonstop.
I ignored every single one of them and entered the station.
The Train Never Came
Since I had already bought my ticket online, getting to the platform was smooth.
All I had to do was wait for the train.
Or so I thought.
Even after the departure time passed, there was no sign of the train.
While nervously checking the app, the screen suddenly updated and showed that the train had already departed.
“What!? How is that possible!?”
Panicking, I rushed to the help desk.
That was when the station staff told me something unbelievable.
Apparently, the platform had been changed at the last minute.
And the only notification was a station announcement.
Nothing was updated on the app or the electronic display boards.
If the announcement was in Hindi, of course I couldn’t understand it.
And even if it had been in English, there was no way anyone could clearly hear it inside the insanely noisy New Delhi station.
It felt completely unfair, but there was nothing I could do except book the next train.
The “Foreign Tourist Ticket Office”
A station employee told me to go to the foreign tourist ticket office next to the station.
Yes — in India, there are separate ticket offices for locals and foreign tourists.
I started walking in the direction the station employee pointed.
After a short while, a man approached me.
He was obviously a tout, so I told him I was just going to the ticket office and tried to walk away.
But then he said:
“There are lots of scammers between the station and the tourist office. For safety, you should take a tuk-tuk.”
Honestly, that sounded believable.
He even negotiated the tuk-tuk fare for me and explained the destination to the driver.
But that was my mistake.
The Fake Office
Looking back, I should never have taken a tuk-tuk unless it was through Uber.
After riding for a while, I started feeling suspicious.
“This is way too far from the station…”
At that point, my suspicion level hit maximum.
When we arrived, it was exactly the kind of office you would expect a fake tourist office to look like.
I immediately knew something was wrong.
The people inside desperately tried to sell me train tickets, but I ignored them and opened the ixigo app to try booking the next train myself.
That was when they told me:
“You can’t book tickets on the app less than four hours before departure!”
But that was a complete lie.
I booked the ticket without any problem.
Escaping the Scam
That’s how I narrowly avoided getting scammed.
Afterward, I returned to the station and finally managed to board the next train safely.
Only then could I finally relax.
While sitting on the train, I checked my phone and noticed a message from a friend I was supposed to meet in Agra.
Since I had told him that I missed my train and was heading to the foreign tourist office, he had sent me the exact location of the real office so I wouldn’t get scammed.
For reference, the real tourist ticket office is here:
Railway Ticket Office For Foreigners Tourist
📍J6Q9+VRV, State Entry Rd, Railway Colony, Paharganj, New Delhi, Delhi, 110055, India
Of course, by the time I saw the message, it was already far too late.
Still, I was incredibly lucky that I avoided getting scammed.
Why New Delhi Station Is So Dangerous
Honestly, I was completely exhausted by New Delhi station.
For starters, many station employees wear normal clothes, making it difficult to tell who actually works there.
Scammers take advantage of that by pretending to be railway staff and misleading tourists.
On top of that, there are fake tourist offices everywhere, making it extremely difficult to distinguish the real one from the fake ones.
How to Avoid Scams at New Delhi Railway Station
If you ever go to New Delhi Railway Station, I honestly think the only thing you should trust is the app.
Only ask station staff to confirm platform changes.
Other than that, assume almost everything people tell you is a lie. They may claim that the foreign tourist ticket office is closed or has moved somewhere else, but do not believe them.
That is probably the only way to avoid getting scammed there.
