Booking Status Code & Meaning

Booking tickets online made easy by IRCTC but somehow many people can't understand the current status of their ticket status.To solve that problem i am writing this article to solve the confusion around your head.

To book train ticket click the below link https://sr.indianrailways.gov.in


Below is the list of various Booking Codes and their meanings

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
RLWL	Remote Location Wait List
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

Above table will clearly explain about the current status of the ticket.

I hope this article will be helpful for you to book a train ticket and also about the current status of your ticket.Let we see on another article.

UTS Mobile Ticketing

Mobile ticketing is the process where customers can order, pay , obtain or validate tickets using mobile phones, without need of a physical ticket.

How mobile ticketing works?

The app named "Unreserved Ticketing System on mobile" (UTS) allows passengers to book an unreserved paperless ticket for a journey between any two stations. Passengers can pay for their tickets digitally through an R-wallet (Railway wallet), an online wallet by the Indian Railways.


How register mobile ticket app?

1.click https://www.utsonmobile.indianrail.gov.in

2. Click user Registration.

3.Register your mobile number for Unreserved Railway Ticket Booking.

4.After successful registration, you will receive a 4 digit MPIN as password which can be used for UTSonMobile Application as well as for UTS Mobile Ticketing Website.

How to issue UTS ticket?

• Passengers can purchase Unreserved Ticket 3 days in advance
• Excluding the day of journey for Journey of 200 kilometers and above.
• The passengers can purchase unreserved tickets involving journey of any distance on the same day.
• Passengers can purchase now half yearly & yearly season tickets also as per their requirement.

How to cancel mobile ticket?

The user/passenger is allowed to cancel the paper tickets booked using UTS mobile apps. The cancellation of ticket through mobile apps is allowed only if the ticket is not printed at the kiosk. Once, the ticket is printed at the kiosk, then cancellation is allowed only at the UTS counter within one hour after printout.

Further services by UTS app?

• Booking of Suburban Ticket.
• Cancellation of Suburban ticket.
• Issue/Renew Season ticket.
• Booking of Platform ticket.
• Check R-Wallet balance.
• Surrender of R-Wallet.
• User profile management.
• Booking History.

Final things to confirm before booking a ticket?

• The passenger should have Android and Windows Smartphone only.
• The phone should have minimum GPRS connectivity to use the services.
• The passenger has to deposit money in advance in their Railway Wallet(R-Wallet).
• In order to have paperless Journey and Platform tickets, the smart phone should be GPS enabled.

Train Tickets in SMS

You can save paper and travel with the SMS sent to your mobile number when you book tickets online.  This only works if you have an Indian mobile number.

The confirmation SMS is unfortunately rather cryptic.  This is the format in which it appears:

The name of the train is not mentioned.  The names of the stations aren’t mentioned either – their respective station codes are mentioned. 

The SMS that I received when I booked the e-ticket in the previous section was as follows:


PNR:4501508534,TRAIN:16558,DOJ:23-09-2013,TIME:11:30,2S,SBC TO KGI,Old Guy,D1 67,FARE:35,SC:11.24+PG CHGS.

If there is more than one passenger travelling, the SMS will mention the name of the first passenger followed by a plus and the number of extra passengers.  For example, if three passengers were travelling, this message would read “Old Guy +2” and mention their coach and seat numbers as well.  If the ticket is RAC/waitlisted, the ticket will only mention the running RAC/waitlist number.

Steps to book TATKAL ticket?

What isTatkal Ticket Reservation?

• To provide reservation to passengers who have to undertake a train journey at short notice.
• Tatkal tickets can be booked one day in advance excluding the date of journey from the train originating station.
• You can book Tatkal Ticket Online on https://irctc.co.in

Tatkal Ticket Booking Timing:↴
AC Class – 10:00am
Sleeper Class – 11:00am

How to book tatkal ticket?

• You can get Tatkal ticket from PRS Counter from railway station or create an account on irctc.
• Login into the irctc website 5-10 minutes ago.
• You can booked only 4 Passengers per PNR for Tatkal tickets.
• 10:00am for AC ticket and 11:00am for Non-AC ticket on One days in advance.
• Select origin destination.
• Choose your Journey date.
• Click on Submit.
• Now select quota as “TATKAL”.
• Click on BOOK NOW for today’s date for any train.
• Fill all the Details Carefuly like as Name, Age, Gender, Seat Prefrence etc.
• Please Tick in checkbox “Book only if confirm berths are allotted”.
• Enter Captcha carefuly.
• Select your Bank for Payment.

What is extracharges for tatkal tickets?

How many days in advance tatkal ticket can be booked?

‘Tatkal’ literally means ‘immediately’. Tatkal Booking starts one day in advance (reduced from 2 days) excluding the day of journey e.g. for a journey on 3rd, bookings would open at 10 am on 2nd; however, the day of journey is defined as the day of chart preparation.

What is tatkal ticket booking timing?

It can be booked on the opening day from 10:00 hrs for AC class (2A/3A/CC/EC/3E) and at 11:00 hrs for Non- AC class(SL/FC/2S) . e .g. if train is to depart from originating station on 2nd August, Tatkal Booking for AC class will Commence at 10:00 AM and for Non AC class will Commence at 11:00 AM on 1st August.


What are the various classes of travel available in Tatkal?


Tatkal bookings are allowed in all classes except First AC.


Can I cancel tatkal ticket. How much refund can I get for tatkal ticket?

Yes you can cancel Tatkal tickets but No refund will be granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets. For contingent cancellation and waitlisted Tatkal ticket cancellations, charges will be deducted as per existing Railway rules.


How many passenger can be booked in single tatkal ticket?

In case of single tatkal ticket maximum passengers allowed for booking is Four. A person is allowed to book only 2 tickets (either Sleeper or AC) from 8 am to 12 noon on a One IP address.

How many tickets can be booked at a time in Tatkal?

Individuals are allowed only Two tickets per user-ID in a day for Tatkal booking from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon.


What ID proof I need to carry for tatkal ticket travel?

The following photo identity cards are considered valid.

• Passport.
• Aadhaar Card.
• Voter ID.
• Driving Licence.
• Pan Card.
• Nationalized Bank Passbook with photographs.
• Credit Cards with laminated photograph.
• Photo Identity card issued by Central / State Government.
• Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their students.
• Photo Identity cards issued by public sector Undertakings of State/Central Government, District Administrations, Municipal bodies and Panchayat Administrations.

Is waiting Tatkal ticket (W/L) refundable?

According to return and refund policy of Indian Railways, a unconfirmed tatkal ticket will be cancelled automatically after the chart preparation – ie, 2 – 4 hours prior to the train departure. First, confirm whether your tatkal ticket was confirmed during chart preparation.


What if I some passenger get confirmed and some get Waiting List (W/L) tatkal ticket?

• Some passengers are in Confirmed (CNF) and some passengers are in WL status in the same ticket.
• If charting has not been done yet, the WL passenger may get confirmed seat after charting.
• All passengers can travel and their names will be displayed in the chart
• Ticket can be cancelled 30 min before departure of train.

Steps To Book Online Train Tickets

Railway tickets can book through mobile phones.

Launched by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) , booking e-ticket over the mobile phone has been around for the past few months.

Application software has to be downloaded on to the mobile handset.

These mobile applications are functional on most of the GPRS/Browser based mobile phones, from basic model to high end ones.

After initial registration and downloading of suitable software on the mobile handset,it will be quite easy for the mobile users to book a reserve ticket through their own mobile.

After booking, the passenger will receive a reservation message with full details of the ticket including PNR, Train No, date of journey, class etc.

This virtual message would be treated at par with the print-out of the e-ticket.

Showing the reservation message of the confirmed ticket on their mobile during travel will be sufficient.

Steps for booking Railway Reserved Ticket on IRCTC website from a browser enabled mobile phone:

1.Login to URL https://www.irctc.co.in/mobile with your existing IRCTC user id and password.
2. Click on Book Ticket and fill in details for plan my travel.
3.Select the train and continue the booking.
4.Use existing passenger list or add passengers.
5.Confirm booking details and pay through Credit/debit card to get successful.

Steps to book counter train ticket in Railway Station?

A passenger can make an advance reservation for up to 120 days in advance, excluding the date of the journey at the train originating station, according to IRCTC’s website – irctc.co.in

Once a ticket is booked, a Unique PNR (Passenger Name Record) is generated against every ticket.

Here is a step by step guide for you!

Passengers who book tickets from the ticket counter of Indian railway station get more privilege. You can opt for various quotas and concessions. Generally, these options are not available for online train ticket booking.

Passengers booking tickets from the ticket counter can opt for the Senior Citizens, Ladies quota and other related concessions.

Here are the steps you need to follow to get a train ticket from the Indian Railways booking counter:

• For booking a train ticket through Indian Railways booking counter, you have to visit the nearest railway station and ask for the reservation form.
• Fill the passenger details (Like: Name/s, age, gender, berth preference)
• Once you are with done with form return it to the booking counter with payment
• And you will get your tickets with the unique PNR number!

By this procedure you can book a ticket in counter.In another topic let we see about Reservation forms,abbrevations in railways etc.

Railways SMS Service

SMS RAIL TO139

Now you have the Power of RAIL ENQUIRY on SMS139 you avail the folllowing services.

1. PNR Enquiry
2. Train Arrival/Departure Enuiry
3. Accommodation Availability
4. Fare Enquiry
5. Train Time Table Enuiry
6. Train Name/Number

This Service is currently available on Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Loop, MTNL, MTS, Reliance, Tata, Uninor, Vodafone Operators.

Now 139 Service is also available at USSD for Reliance and Uninor users. Just Dial *139#. Launching soon on other Operators also.

Now all the enquiries like Train Alert, PNR Status, Train Status, Seat Availability, Train Schedule, Train Information, Train Time Table, Train Fare etc offered on the web site www.indianrail.gov.in are available on your mobile phone through SMS facility. For more information on the mobile service providers and the key words to be used on the mobile.

SMS Services

Note:

• Premium Charges of Rs. 3.00 Per SMS are aplicable.
• DOJ is stand for “Date of Journey”.
• Quota is an optional field. For Example, please enter G for General, CK for Tatkal.
• For CLASS field please enter 1A for First Class AC, 2A for Second Class AC, 3A for Third Class AC, SL for Sleeper, CC for Chair Car, 2S for Second Sitting.

Platform Ticket Rules in Railways

A Platform Ticket is a type of rail ticket issued by Major Railway Station, permitting the bearer to access the platforms of a railway station, but not to board and use any train services. It allows people to walk with their friends and loved ones all the way to the passenger car at stations where the general public is not admitted to platforms. Railfans can also purchase platform tickets and enjoy their trainspotting hobbies.

• If you forget to buy a Platform Ticket of ₹ 10/-will charged by railway ticket checking staff at least ₹ 250/- as Fine.
• ₹ 250/- is not the only Fine charged, ‘If the passenger is caught by railway ticket checking staff at any platform without Platform ticket or travelling ticket, passenger will be charged double the fare of the last train that arrived at / departed from that platform. The fare will be worked out on the basis of the last ticket checking station on the train’s route.

Platform Ticket

• It is issued only at notified stations.
• It is an authority to enter the platform.
• Platform ticket holder cannot remain in a carriage.
• The cost of a platform ticket is ₹ 10/-.
• It is valid for 2 hours from the time of issue.
• The date and time of issue will be marked on the ticket by the SM.
• The holder should surrender the ticket at the exit gate to the TC.
• No refund will be granted on Platform tickets.
• Press Correspondents and News paper agents are charge 1/4th of the above rate, but Monthly Permits are not issued to them.

Free Platform passes or permits are issued to staff of certain Government Departments.

• Posts and Telegraphs Department.
• Military Police.
• Civil Police.
• Government Railway Police.
• Officials of Excise Department on duty and Sewa Samiti.
• Boy Scouts Organizations.
• Railway contractors and their staff.

How to fill Reservation Form in Railways?

Booking of train tickets through Reservation Counters you need to fill the Reservation form which looks like the PDF.

Filling of form starts with Providing your details as if you are a doctor then you can tick the Box. This is useful in an emergency like if you are traveling on the same train you can be helpful as a doctor over there. It would be easy for the authorities to identify from the list of travelers instead of personally going to everyone and asking or either doctor approaching them.

• Next thing is about the Sr. Citizen Concessions. Tick mark in the space next to senior citizen from the top. Senior Citizen ( above 60 years) can available a discount directly at the time of booking the tickets provided you need to carry a proof of age like Voter ID card or Driving License during the journey or else you be fined under extant Railways Rules. Leave it empty if it doesn’t apply to you.

• In the next box, you need to tick whether you want to upgrade without any extra charges. Indian railways in order to utilize the available accommodations have introduced a scheme to upgrade a wait list passenger who has paid the full fare to the next higher class without any extra charge provided that there is any accommodation is available in other lower classes.

• Like if you are booking a wait-listed ticket in the 3AC compartment and if the ticket doesn’t get confirmed at the time of chart preparation, the algorithm of Indian Railways at the time of preparing the chart will allocate the lower next class to those who have ticked this box.

• Next things are about the Train Number and Name, Date of Journey, Class is either Sleeper Class or 3AC or 2AC. No of Berth/ Seat which you want to book during the journey. Station From, Station To, Boarding at & Reservation Upto are the details of the stations where you want to board the train and want to reach where.

• Next comes the boarding Person details. You need to provide details of each person who would like to travel. The details include Name, Sex, Age, Choice of Berth (Either lower or Upper or Middle- This is provided as for the safety of Senior Citizen). And a special section for Veg/ Non-Veg meal for Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express. If you would like to go for that then be sure to tick mark it. Per requisition form, you can fill up to 6 person tickets and 2 children below five years which should be provided at next section of the form. For the children below 5 years Indian Railways doesn’t issue the tickets and also there are no charges for them to travel but they should be mentioned here if they are traveling.

• Next section is Onward/ Return Journey Details. Fill this form if you are looking to book return journey tickets or onward journey tickets. You should provide details like Train No and Name, Date, Class, Station From, Station To. If this doesn’t apply to you then move to the next section.

• The next section is about the person who is at the reservation counter who booking the tickets. It includes Name of Applicant, Full Address, Phone number, time of booking and Signature. These details are to be provided because in case of emergency or at the time of the death of the traveler in emergency or accident situations the person would be contacted for communications. You should fill this or else the booking agent wouldn’t accept the form.

• The next section is “For Office Use Only”. As the title says you shouldn’t write anything here. This place is for the Indian Railways official purposes.

• That makes your part of filling. Next thing you can do is give this form to the Reservation Clerk present at the reservation counter and who would check out the tickets and will issue the printed tickets to you if the accommodation is available as requested by you.

• People who are booking Tatkal Tickets has to mention Tatkal at the top so as the Reservation Clerk would understand easily. Tatkal Tickets are provided just 3 days in advance before the commencement of the train journey at the starting station.

E-Ticket by Railways with details

Box 1 (Red): The Passenger Name Record (PNR).  This is a unique ten-digit number printed on the top-left corner of your ticket and is very important, especially if you've booked in First AC Sleeper/First Class Non-AC, or if your ticket is in the RAC/waitlist.  It is this number you will have to enter on the Indian Railways website or Erail to check the status of your ticket.  It is always a good idea to note down the PNR numbers of your tickets; in the eventuality of you losing your ticket or it being torn, providing your ticket's PNR number to railway officials will make it far simpler for them to verify that your problem is genuine.

Box 2 (Green): Mentions your train's number and name.

Box 3 (Orange): The class of travel of your ticket.

Box 4 (Purple): Displays your origin and destination stations as well as your date of departure.  You will also see boxes labelled "Boarding" and "Resv Upto"; these will usually be the same as your "From" and "To" stations.

Boxes 5 (Yellow): This section tells you when your train leaves your origin station and reaches your destination station.  In this case, the train leaves at 11.30 am on the 23rd of September and reaches at 11.49 am on the 24th of September - a massive journey of 19 minutes!

Box 6 (Blue): Displays the total fare of your ticket in figures and words.  Remember that the fare displayed is for the whole ticket, not per passenger.

Box 7 (Pink): Details of passengers travelling.  Unlike PRS tickets, e-tickets mention the passengers' names, ages and genders.

Box 8 (Lime Green): Ticket status, coach and berth details.  If your ticket is confirmed, it will say CONFIRM (it should ideally be "CONFIRMED", but for some reason it isn't), followed by your coach number, seat/berth number and seat/berth type.

Box 9 (Dark Blue): Tells you whether the ticket was booked from a personal or an agent's account on IRCTC.  If you've booked a ticket from a travel agent and this section says that the ticket is booked from a personal ID, this can be problematic...

Details In Train Tickets

This article will help you read tickets quickly and make sure you’ve not made a mistake when booking your ticket – or potentially boarding the wrong train.

While the ticket’s design itself might vary (it might be reddish or white instead of blue, and lack advertisements on the sides), the information on the ticket will be in the same format as the one above. 

I’ve marked all the important sections of the ticket in numbered boxes, which I will now explain:

Box 1 (Red): The Passenger Name Record (PNR).  This is a unique ten-digit number printed on the top-left corner of your ticket and is very important, especially if you’ve booked in First AC Sleeper/First Class Non-AC, or if your ticket is in the RAC/waitlist.  It is this number you will have to enter on the Indian Railways website or Erail to check the status of your ticket.  It is always a good idea to note down the PNR numbers of your tickets; in the eventuality of you losing your ticket or it being torn, providing your ticket’s PNR number to railway officials will make it far simpler for them to verify that your problem is genuine.

Box 2 (Green): Mentions the train number, date of journey and distance travelled, along with the number of adults (passengers over 12 years old) and children (passengers between 5 and 12 years old) travelling.  Children below the age of 5 travel free and while their details are stored on the railways’ database, their names will not appear on the ticket.

Box 3 (Blue): The number of your ticket, not to be confused with the PNR number.  Not very important, but just make sure the ticket number printed on your ticket is identical to the number stencilled on it.

Box 4 (Orange): Displays the class of travel of your ticket along with your origin and destination.

Box 5 (Purple): Mentions your coach and seat/berth numbers.  The coach number (in this case A2) is displayed first, followed by your seat or berth numbers (in this case, 19 and 20) as well as the type of seat/berth allotted.

Box 6 (Yellow): The genders and ages of the passengers travelling.  M = Male, F = Female.  Counter-bought tickets do not mention the names of the passengers travelling.  This is a security feature.  If, for example, you lose your ticket, somebody who finds your ticket will not be able to cancel it and collect the refund, unless they somehow manage to guess the passengers’ names.

Box 7 (Grey): The total fare of the ticket in figures and words, including reservation fees, superfast surcharges (if applicable) and service tax.  The amount displayed is for the whole ticket, not per passenger.

Box 8 (Pink): The name of the train you’re taking.  No idea why it’s all the way at the bottom.

Box 9 (Lime Green): Mentions when your train leaves your origin station and reaches your destination.  In the example ticket posted at the top, the train leaves my origin (Amritsar) on the 26th of October at 8.10 am, reaching my destination (New Delhi) the same day at 4.25 pm.

I hope this article will be more helpful for you.Continue reading other articles available in this blog.

How many R.A.C tickets in one coach?

In a normal express train 142 tickets can fall under the RAC quota. Let us explain (for the convenience of your understanding, let us take Sleeper coaches as our reference): on a general level any express train has 12 Sleeper coaches. There are 72 seats in each of the 12 Sleeper coaches, making the total number of available seats 864 (72X12). In an express train, the total berths reserved under the RAC quota are 71. Now, each of these 71 berths will be shared by two people, so the total RAC count is conventionally 142 (71X2).

Are you authorized to travel on a RAC ticket?

In more than 95% of cases you can be sure of making a journey, though you might have to share the berth with another person. As you know, under the RAC quota the Side lower berth seats are allotted to two people who have to share it, if the ticket does not get confirmed or there are no vacancies on the train. But there is one instance where you might not be able to make a journey, read below to find out.

Can a RAC ticket be moved to Waitlist?

Yes, though it rarely happens, but a RAC ticket can be moved to waitlist. If some coaches of the train are unavailable and there is a scarcity of seats such a step can be taken. Suppose, there are 12 Sleeper coaches in a train and out of them 1 coach develops a technical issue and cannot make the journey. So, the confirmed ticket passengers have to be accommodated with one less coach. In such rare instances a RAC ticket can be demoted.

Are there any categories in RAC tickets?

Though not apparently, there is an Emergency Quota (EQ) valid in the RAC tickets. The EQ has tickets booked by VIPs, railway staff, etc. which by some chance have not been confirmed. Often these tickets are given preference over normal RAC bookings when queued for Confirmation.

Do Confirmation of RAC tickets always follow the serial numbers?

No, not in all instances! As you see there are Emergency Quotas in RAC. So, while RAC 1 should be the first to be confirmed, at rare times one of the tickets from lower serial order of RAC may be confirmed due to EQ.

If you have a RAC ticket, are you always allotted Side Lower berth seats?

That is the general norm; however, there may be certain instances when the amount of Confirmed ticket cancellations is so high that middle or upper berth may be allotted to the passenger. This seldom happens.

Why some passengers on RAC tickets are allowed Solo Berths?

At times you may find that a person with RAC ticket gets a solo berth, without the general convention of sharing. Such a pleasant surprise may come when the person allotted the same seat gets ticket confirmed at the last moment and there is no time for re-allocation.

Why do tickets show two RAC nos. e.g: RAC 15/RAC 9?

Many people are confused by such a status. It means when you started the booking process you were at RAC 15, but during the process 6 more tickets were cancelled, so you moved up to RAC 9 at the present status.

If you are travelling with another person (with same PNR) and have RAC 3 & 4, will the seats be together?

RAC tickets get confirmed only when there is a cancellation. So, the progress of your tickets is dependent on cancellations. However, Indian Railways generally tries to accommodate tickets on one PNR in the same space. So, you may share the same seats.

How many person can travel in 1 tier AC in IRCTC?

Not many people would have traveled in Indian railway AC 1st class coach.

Reason 1 – Affordability, it’s damn expensive and comparable to almost flight fares.

Reason 2 – Availability, due to lack of public interest, Indian railway almost removed the 1st Class AC coaches from most of the trains and with the remaining trains very few seats are made available.

I have recently got an opportunity for a lengthy ride on 1st Class AC Coach.

First of all there is a no separate coach attached for the AC 1-tier (1st class AC). AC-1 tier given only half the space of one coach and the remaining of that coach allocated for AC-2 Tier (AC 2nd Class). There were only ten of AC 1st Class seats were available. I heard this seating structure is very much similar for all trains with AC 1st Class facility (except premium trains such as Rajdhani/Shatabdi).

AC 1-Tier Layout

There are two coupes with 4 berths and one coupe with 2 berths. Unlike rest of the coaches for the AC 1-tier, the seats will be allocated only during the chart preparation. When the chart prepared if couples any, will get first preference for the 2 berth coupe.

The interior of the 1st AC couches are more colorful (who cares!) and comes with some more small amenities to differentiate from 2nd AC. However they are not that worth for double the money. The real benefit will be experienced only when you are lucky enough to get the 2 berth private coupe. This coupe gives the complete private experience and probably the highest value for money.

The 1st AC coupe is equipped small amenities like trash bin, mini wardrobe, some additional lights, stands, door etc. The couch will be cleaned frequently and trashes will be emptied occasionally as well. There are bells to call the attendants as well.