Q: My WL/RAC ticket has become CNF (confirmed), how do I find out my carriage/berth?
Ans. Carriage/berth details for RAC/Waitlist passengers are not decided till the reservation charts are prepared, this happens 2-4 hours before the train departs, the reservation charts for morning trains (up till 12:00 departure) are prepared the night before, often as early as 17:00.
You can find out your carriage/berth details AFTER the charts are prepared by using one of the following methods:
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PNR enquiry service is available 04:00 - 23:30 IST (09:30 - 05:00 GMT)
If in India, telephone 139, this number can be dialled from anywhere in India, you’ll need your PNR number.
When you go for your train, find the correct platform, then look for the reservation charts, they’re always easy to find, they should be pinned to a board close to where you enter the platform, the reservation chart consists of loads of sheets of paper, at the top of each sheet you will see the class, look for the sheets for your class (the longer the sheets, the lower the class), when you find your class, look for the ’RAC/WL’ sheet for that class, for 1A, ECC, 2A & FC the waitlist details should be at the bottom of the normal sheets, for other classes there should be a separate sheet, look down the left side of the sheet for your initial waitlist number (eg. WL 10), then look along the line, you’ll see your name, age, sex and you’ll also see your carriage and berth details (eg. S3-32, Sleeper Class coach 3, berth 32).
Indian Railways use the following letters to identify their carriages.
H = 1st class air con (1A)
E = Executive Chair Class (air con)(EC)
A = 2-tier air con (2A)
B = 3-tier air con (3A)
C = Air Con Chair Car (CC)
FC or F = First Class non air con (FC)
S = Sleeper Class (SL)
D = Bookable 2nd class seat (2S)
HA = 1st class air con/2-tier air con combination
AB = 2 & 3 tier air con combination
G & J are used for Garib Rath trains, G for 3 tier air con, J for Air con Chair Class.
All carriages have a reservation sheet for that particular carriage, this sheet will be stuck to the outside of the carriage next to one of the entrance doors, if you’re travelling in an air con class, it can be quicker to find the air con carriages and look at the sheet on the door, the air con carriages are easy to find, look down the train for carriages without bars on the windows, these are the air con carriages, they’re almost always grouped together, and the vast majority of trains (that have air con) only have a few air con carriages.
(This method is unreliable if you’re not boarding at the train’s originating station as the sheet is often damaged or lost as the train starts moving)
The Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) also has a full reservation chart with him, he’s the man in charge of the train and he can normally be found by the air con carriages.
ALWAYS leave plenty of time to find your carriage, big stations can be massive places with many platforms, the bridges between platforms can be extremely crowded, trains can have more than 20 long carriages and platforms can be busy and confusing, you should arrive at a big station about an hour before your train is due to depart, about 40 minutes for a medium sized station, and 30 minutes for a smaller station, it’s difficult to be bored on a railway platform, so you won’t regret getting there early, you’ll also be more relaxed, thus making yourself a less attractive target for opportunist criminals.