Since most Indian roads are narrow, go thru little towns with children playing on the road, are filled with slow moving ox-carts, not to mention the wandering cows, goats & sheep, the fastest a vehicle can safely travel in India is about 25 miles/hr. While random beasts still wander the train tracks, they're much fewer in numbers making train transport the best way to go by far.

random cow & person on train tracks

And most trains are relatively nice. Your average 2nd class car is air conditioned with two bunks on each side, a miniature table & some even have a nice curtain for a little privacy. Unless you're a Westerner in which case everyone pulls open the curtain to stare at you & or even join your 4-person car until it swells to 8 people & you or your fellow person have to start yelling at the others to go away. And despite reports of stolen luggage, there's normally someone selling heavy-duty chains for your bags & daily reports in the paper of someone being drugged then mugged, I've felt relatively safe. Still lock & chain my bags & even lock up my shoes when I sleep. And buy all the food I need before hand so no one can slip a drug in it.

But not all the trains have the 2nd class cars. Some routes only have the bottom of the barrel seating. Yesterday rode on one horrific one that was mostly standing room only, I was lucky, had a hard wooden seat. But with everyone crowded around me standing up, had more than a few elbows to the head. And while most trains are usually on time. This cheapie train took 8hrs instead of 4!