There's nowhere for an apple to fall into a barrel of herrings: The hectic life of Indian trains

Canadian documentary photographer Sarah Hylton spent several months traveling around India by train to create her Temporary home photo project. A temporary home is what trains regularly become for the hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers, families, missionaries and beggars that Sarah met during her journey.

A boy looks out the window while traveling with his family, Kerala (south of India). "What struck me the most about Indian trains is their scale and comprehensiveness. They have a much more serious meaning for Indian culture and for the Indian people than I thought before," Sarah said.

Along with the landscapes changing outside the window of the Indian train, the snacks sold on the platform also change: if in the state of Assam, whose hillsides are dotted with plantations of the same tea variety, you are offered to buy sweet yogurt mitha dahi, then on the coast of the Arabian Sea station traders will strongly sell you idli - rice cake steamed.

View of the railway station in the city of Dibrugarh, one of the largest stations in the state of Assam in northeast India.

The first passenger train in India set off in 1853, and since then one of the largest railway networks in the world has been formed in the country.

A mother and child are resting on the third and last day of their journey.

A view from a train near the city of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. Despite the fact that this state is in second place in India in terms of poverty, this year its government received 30% more money from the federal budget than in previous years.

Passengers in the waiting room at Shoraner Junction Station, a junction station in Kerala, where railway lines converge to the north, west, east and south of the country.

The merchant offers textile products to passengers of the Vivek Express train, following the longest passenger route in India. The train covers 4273 kilometers in 80 hours and 15 minutes.

A passenger shaves before the train arrives at the terminal station in Kerala. Many passengers spend several days on the train without being able to take a shower.

A worker in rural Punjab.

Workers load goods onto a train at Guwahati Station, state Assam.

Ravi sells bottled water and street food at Kota Junction station in Rajasthan. The offers of street vendors vary from state to state, and they differ especially in the states of the northern and southern parts of India.

A man looks out of the window of his train. Unlike many other Indians, his family has the opportunity to travel by train in more comfortable conditions: this car even has air conditioning.

View from the train window to the Arabian Sea, Goa.