India's middle-classes are rekindling their affair with long-distance train travel, as sharp increases in domestic airline ticket prices push many former frequent fliers back to the railways.

India has enjoyed a boom in domestic air travel, as low-cost carriers, led by Air Deccan, brought the once-seeming luxury of air travel within the reach of a far greater number of Indians, who previously relied on the country's colonial-era rail system for most long journeys.