Indian Railways Ticket Reservation FAQ
Q:
What is a PNR?
PNR - Passenger Name Record is a unique number that recognizes your booking. PNR is a travel record of an individual or a group of individuals, maintained in CRS (Central Reservation System) database.
This code is generated only when the CRS gets full data of journey like passenger's name, gender, age, train number, journey class, berth preference, contact link, etc PNR is per ticket and not for person. If multiple members are booked together on one ticket, then Only one PNR number will be allocated for it. Indian Railways has a 10-digit numerical PNR number.
Q:
What is the use of PNR?
PNR is utilized to get the Confirmed or Waitlisted status of your booking along with the coach and seat numbers. PNR is used in "follow-up" process by which passengers are able to get updates about the status of their journey. PNR helps passengers to check whether their tickets got confirmed or not.
Q:
How to get PNR Status via phone call?
You can check PNR Status of your ticket via SMS on mobile by sending out SMS to any of the numbers below. You can call 139 to check PNR Status of your ticket and other details.
Q:
What is "Chart Not Prepared" status?
The last booking chart for a train will be done at least 4hrs prior to the schedule departure of the train at origination station, but in reality charts have been getting prepared 1 or 2 hours prior to the actual departure of the train. In situation of early morning or late evening trains, this might be prepared considerably earlier during the previous night itself. Your booking standing might change any time till chart is prepared,though quite uncommon, it is possible that an RAC ticket can change to wait-listed status. It is also possible that booking relocated from WL to CNF can return to RAC or WL. However none of this will certainly not happen for a ticket which was CNF while Booking itself.
Q:
How does Railway Reservations work and Booking Status change ?
Railway Reservations and Booking Status explained step by step: When all available seats on a train are sold, Indian Railway or IRCTC releases RACs for railway reservations. Once all of those are sold, WL tickets are released. On almost every train, tickets are cancelled for a variety of reasons. These cancellations can get you on the train if you bought a RAC or WL ticket. When the reservation chart of a particular train is ready (usually meaning that the train is due to depart in a few hours) and there are still some available tickets in different quotas, those will be given to RAC/WL ticket holders. Usually, booking is upgraded step by step.
Q:
What is Tatkal Booking and how is it done?
Tatkal Booking is meant for immediate travel plans. Tatkal Booking for every train opens a day in advance at 10 am for AC (Air Conditioned Class) and at 11 am for Non-Ac. You can book Tatkal e-ticket online irctc.co.in or any other online booking agency. Every train and class has a defined Tatkal quota and it varies from station to station. Many of the trains do not have Tatkal category. You have to select the Tatkal check box in the 'Plan my Travel' page along with other details for booking Tatkal ticket.
Q:
What are Tatkal Booking Charges?
The Tatkal Charges have been fixed as a percentage of fare at the rate of 10% of basic fare for second class and 30% of basic fare for all other classes subject to minimum and maximum as given in the table below. The below charges will be levied uniformly both in peak period & non-peak periods.
| Class of Travel | Minimum Tatkal Charges(in Rs.) | Maximum Tatkal Charges(in Rs.) |
|---|---|---|
| Second (sitting) | 10.00 | 15.00 |
| Sleeper | 90.00 | 175.00 |
| AC Chair Car | 100.00 | 200.00 |
| AC 3Tier | 250.00 | 350.00 |
| AC 2Tier | 300.00 | 400.00 |
| Executive | 300.00 | 400.00 |
Q:
What are the terms and conditions of booking tickets under Tatkal scheme?
Tatkal tickets shall be issued only on production of one of the ten prescribed proofs of identity shown under
- Voter Photo identity card issued by Election Commision of India.
- Passport
- PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department.
- Driving Licence issued by RTO.
- Photo identity card having serial number issued by Central/State Government.
- Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their students.
- Nationalized Bank Passbok with photograph.
- Credit cards issued by banks with laminated photograph.
- Unique Identification Card "Aadhaar".
- Photo identity cards having serial number issued by Public Sector Undertaking of State/Central Government, District Administration, Municipal bodies and Penchant Administration.
Other Conditions
- The Tatkal category is not applicable on first ac class and second seating class.
- Ladies and general quota cannot be opted for along with Tatkal quota.
- No concession is allowed in Tatkal Booking.
- It will be possible to book a maximum of only four passengers per PNR forTatkal tickets.
- The facility of change of name is not permitted on the bookings made under Tatkal scheme
- TDRs are not being issued for waiting list tickets.
- No duplicate Tatkal tickets shall be issued.
- Duplicate Tatkal tickets shall be issued only in exceptional cases on payment of full fare including Tatkal charges.
Q:
Any special precaution while providing details during Ticket Booking?
Passengers have to be careful about their details provided while booking train tickets. Your personal information could be stolen as they were publicly pasted on rail coaches after chart preparation. The only way to protect yourself from fraudulent transactions, is to avoid quoting PAN details for identity proof. Don't mention your PAN card as ID proof while booking train tickets.
Q:
Where would I find PNR?
- On a paper ticket released in a railway booking counter, the PNR number is on the top left of the ticket.
- The PNR number on ticket might be split right into 3-7(digits) form (e.g. 890-1234567) on paper ticket.
- On IRCTC e-ticket or any other agency e-ticket the PNR number can be on the top left of the ticket.
- PNR might also be on SMS alert on your mobile if you have booked e-ticket and provided your mobile number.
- Below are of Online/IRCTC Ticket and Counter/Paper Ticket. In this you can see the location of PNR Number
Q:
How to get PNR Status via SMS on mobile?
You could check PNR Status of your ticket via SMS on mobile by sending out SMS to any of below numbers in the following manner.
- PNR <10-digit PNR Number> to 139
- PNR <10-digit PNR Number> to 54959
- PNR <10-digit PNR number> to 5676747
- IRPNR <10-digit PNR Number> to 57886
Q:
Why am I getting errors while checking PNR?
There could be 3 possible reasons
- You entered wrong PNR number(Please check PNR then try again ).
- Web servers are down.(In this case check again couple of minutes).
- Indian Railways Servers Maintenance happens at 11:30pm - 12:30am (Check again after 12:30 AM).
Q:
What are the different type of booking status codes and their meaning in Indian railways?
The last booking chart for a train will be done at least 4hrs prior to the schedule departure of the train at origination station, but in reality charts have been getting prepared 1 or 2 hours prior to the actual departure of the train.In situation of early morning or late evening trains, this might be prepared considerably earlier during the previous night itself. Your booking standing might change any time till chart is prepared,though quite uncommon, it is possible that an RAC ticket can change to wait-listed status. It is also possible that booking relocated from WL to CNF can return to RAC or WL. However none of this will certainly not happen for a ticket which was CNF while Booking itself.
| Booking Code | Description |
|---|---|
| CAN / MOD | Cancelled or Modified Passenger |
| CNF / Confirmed | Confirmed (Coach/Berth number will be available after chart preparation) |
| RAC | Reservation Against Cancellation |
| WL # | Waiting List Number |
| CKWL # | Tatkal Waiting List Number |
| GNWL | General Wait List |
| PQWL | Pooled Quota Wait List |
| REGRET/WL | No More Booking Permitted |
| RELEASED | Ticket Not Cancelled but Alternative Accommodation Provided |
| R# # | RAC Coach Number Berth Number |
| CK | Tatkal Quota |
Q:
What are different type of train ticket quota codes and their meaning?
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| GN | General Quota |
| CK | Tatkal Quota |
| PT | Premium Tatkal Quota |
| RC(RAC) | Reservation Against Cancellation |
| LB | Lower Berth |
| PQ | Pooled Quota |
| OS | Outstation |
| RS | Road Side |
| GNRS | General Quota Road Side |
| LD | Ladies Quota |
| SS | Female(above 45 Year)/Senior Citizen/Travelling alone |
| HP | Physically Handicapped Quota |
| YU | Yuva |
| HO | Head quarters/high official Quota |
| DF | Defence Quota |
| PH | Parliament house Quota |
| FT | Foreign Tourist Quota |
| DP | Duty Pass Quota |
| RE | Railway Employee Staff on Duty for the train |
Q:
What are different type of Coach Codes and their meaning?
| Coach Code | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| A | 2-Tier Air Conditioned Coach | here are total 6 berths in coupe among which 2 berth are facing each other i.e Lower and Upper side. These berths are bigger and wider than 3-Tier Berths. |
| B | 3-Tier Air Conditioned Coach | There are total 8 berths in a coupe among which 3 berths are facing each other i.e Lower , Middle and Upper and two side berth. Basically this is similar to slepper Coach. |
| C | Air Conditioned Chair Car | These are the generally day trains where the arrangement of seat are made in 3+3 or 3+2 configuration which can be pushed back and also have aisle(walkaway) in between. |
| D | Second Class seats which can be booked | These are the same 3+3 seats with walkaway in between but these seats are pre-reservable. i.e they are pre-booked before the train is boarded. |
| E | Executive Chair Car | These seats are more wider and spacious than normal Chair Car. |
| EXT | Extra Coach | Sometimes in some festival season or during vacation the amount of commuters increase , so extra Coaches are added. Generally these extra Coach are of lower Classes. |
| DE | Extra Coach | Combination of Executive Class and Second Class |
| F | Non-A.C First Class | These are coupe with doors. There are no side berths and these have the capability to accommodate 2-4 persons. |
| G | 3-Tier Air Conditioned(Garib Rath) | It is the symbol which is used for indicating the Class S (Sleeper Coach) of Garib Rath |
| H | 3First Class Air Conditioned | It is similar in layout to the F Class, and is Air Conditioned |
| HA | Combination of H & A Class | It is combination of two types. Half Coach is of first Class Air Conditioned which is of type H and other half is 2-Tier Air Conditioned which is of Type A |
| HB | Combination of H & B Class | It is combination of two types. Half Coach is of first Class Air Conditioned which is of type H and other half is 3-Tier Air Conditioned which is of Type B |
| HB | Combination of H & B Class | It is combination of two types. Half Coach is of first Class Air Conditioned which is of type H and other half is 3-Tier Air Conditioned which is of Type B |
| J | Garib Rath Chair Car | It is the Garib Rath version of the Chair Car sitting |
| RA | 2-Tier Air Conditioned RAC | It is RAC in Coach type A |
| RB | 3-Tier Air Conditioned RAC | It is RAC in Coach type B |
| RG | 3-Tier Air Conditioned RAC Garib Rath | It is RAC in Coach type G |
| RS | Sleeper Class RAC | It is RAC in Coach type S. |
| S | Sleeper Class version | It is Sleeper Coach. It has group of 8 berths with 3 berths facing each other i.e Upper, Middle and Lower and 2 berths on the side. Sometimes it also has 9 berths, in which case the side layout has 3 berths. |
| SE | Second Class Executive Chair | It is a non-Air-conditioned version of Class E. |
Q:
Am I insured while traveling on Indian railways?
Low cost Insurance or Life insurance for Railway(irctc) Passengers:
- Indian Railways provides free insurance to the passengers.
- In case of death railways pays Rs. 4 Lakhs and in case of injury the minimum amount is Rs. 32000/- and maximum can be Rs. 4 Lakhs depending upon the severity.
- On the accident spot railway pays ex-gratia amount Rs. 15000/- to the dependents of the dead passenger and Rs. 5000/- to the injured and Rs. 500/- less injured passengers for immediate needs.
The insurance not only covers the travelling passenger, it covers the person who came to receive someone with valid platform ticket. If you have a valid platform or travel ticket and you get insured or dead because of any terror or due to railway negligence, you are covered under insurance. Railway Claim Tribunal will decide the amount you are liable for insurance depends upon severity.