What all types of reservations are there in train?

We all have travelled by train for long-distance or during our school or college picnics or Industrial Visits or tours where we had our single, family or group reservations done through online or offline at Passenger Reservation System(PRS) counters at the railway stations in same or different compartments of the train. Now let me give you an overview of all the reservations that are available on the train.

Confirmed (CNF) - This shows that you have a confirmed seat and berth. The ticket full details of your seat/berth will be visible on your ticket, such as the (Upper, Middle, Lower, Side Upper or Side Lower) berth no, Compartment, the reserved travel class, date of journey, boarding station, time of the train, etc.

Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) - Once the normal quota of seats/berth is full, the railway provides RAC queue to the passenger which allows the passenger to travel in the train but are not guaranteed a full berth. If any cancellation is done from the reservation quota seats, the person in the RAC queue is assigned a CNF ticket or else two passengers travelling by RAC are assigned the same side lower berth seat.

Waiting List (WL) - This indicates that there is no berth available on that train and only if any tickets holder cancels their tickets then only you may get into the list of RAC or confirmed as per the availability or your WL queue. Eg: If your ticket has the status GNWL 102/ WL 26, It means that your ticket is in the queue of 26 passengers and only if the above 26 passengers cancels their booking for the same date of journey, you may be allotted a seat/berth for travel on the booked date. If your ticket is not confirmed even after the final chart preparation, then your ticket gets automatically cancelled and you are not allowed to board the train on the WL ticket. The refund will be put in your bank account if booked through online or you need to go to the booking counter of any station to cancel and take your refund.
Waiting list tickets can be of the below four types:
General Waiting List (GNWL): This type of waiting list has the highest chances of confirmation and is given to the passengers that books their tickets or board the train from the originating station or a station that is close to the originating station.
Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL): These type of waiting list is given to passengers who are boarding and de-boarding at two intermediate stations of the train en route. The chances of getting a confirmed reservation are very less.
Remote Location Waiting list (RLWL): Passengers boarding from intermediate stations of the train route are provided with this status and the chances of confirmation are relatively less.
Tatkal Waiting List Tickets (CKWL/TQWL): This type of status is given to the passengers who have booked their ticket under the Tatkal quota and their tickets get confirmed directly without going through the RAC phase but be assured that General Waiting List is given priority over Tatkal Waiting List Tickets.

Reservation for Foreigners and NRIs: Through this system, Foreigners and NRIs can book train tickets in 2 AC, 1 AC and Executive travel classes using international debit and credit cards with a registration charge of 100Rs. + GST and a service fee of 200Rs. + GST per booking under the Foreign Tourist Quota 365 days prior to the journey whereas normal Advance Reservation Period (ARP) is 120 days prior to the date of journey excluding the date of journey.

Railway Reservation Quotas: The seats/berth in Indian Railway trains are issued under different reservation quotas to the general public without restrictions and the reserved category to the specific groups of passengers as per the assigned quota list. The reservation quotas in Indian Railway trains are as given below:
1. General Quota, Tatkal Quota, Premium Tatkal Quota, Roadside Quota and Pooled Quota which are available to the general public.
2. Senior Citizen Quota: All the senior citizens fall under this category. For male passengers, it's above the age of 60 years and for female passengers, it's above the age of 58 years.
3. Lower Berth Quota: Women who are pregnant and Senior Citizen Quota members fall under this quota list and can ask for Lower Berth Quota. Even women above 45 years can make use of this quota.
4. Ladies Quota: Every female passenger can make use of this quota.
5. Defence Quota: Every Defence personnel can use this quota by submitting their ID.
6. Parliament House Quota: This quota is for both sitting and former MPs. They can use this for booking their travel by train to any place of a station in India.
7. Divyangjan Quota: Passengers who are physically handicapped can apply through this quota for their reservation while travelling by train.
8. Railway Employee Quota: Every employee of Indian Railways who are travelling on duty in a train falls under this quota for reservation in the train.
9. Yuva Quota: These are issued to youth passengers who are unemployed and falls between the age group of 15 to 45 years can use this quota for booking while going for an interview by providing the required proof.
10. Duty Pass Quota: All the working and retired employees of the railway who travel on duty pass, privilege pass or post-retirement complimentary pass in specified trains can make use of this quota.

IRCTC website can be accessed by registering our mail I'd and mobile number. Through that we can get a user it and password which should be noted and remembered. By logging in through that we can book tickets for us and close relatives. General category tickets can be booked by mentioning the from place and to place. List depicting names of trains with classes and availability can be available. On seeing the availability we can mention name,age of passengers. Finally we can select payment mode and make the payment either debit/credit card. Besides general category of reservation there is a tatkal provision through which we can book tickets only for the next day when normal category tickets found full. For booking ac class tickets we have to do the same by ten o clock and for general by eleven o clock. As the tatkal tickets are getting sold quickly we have to take extra care while booking.

If you take a general ticket and board the train in general compartment and ask the TT to give you reservation in a reserved coach then depending upon availability he can give you reservation by charging the requisite amount and then you can move to that compartment and take that seat. But if you buy a general ticket and without any reservation you sit inside a reserved compartment then also he may give you a vacant reservation but charge a penalty for entering the reserved coach without permission. The reason for this is that if the coach is full you will be disturbing the passengers who are comfortably sitting there and you are doing an illegal thing and taking risk of sitting in a reserved compartment being spotted without reservation. In our country due to large population sometimes some bad elements enter in a group and people do not oppose them due to fear in their mind . TT also keeps at a bay from them as he does not want to go for the hassles of calling police to oust them but I have seen many instances where Railway police forces people out of the reserved compartment.

There are many types of reservations being provided by the Railway for the benefit of various categories of people and also different types of reservations to all the people. These are Confirmed (CNF) tickets, RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) tickets in which one can enter a train and gets a seat but that can be changed to berth soon depending upon the number of cancellations, and WL (Waiting list) ticket which would be confirmed in the last hours when chart is finalised and one can find its status and board the train if it is converted to confirmed. If it is not confirmed the money would directly be refunded to the passengers account.

There are 12 types of reservation quotas in the ticket reservation offered by Indian Railways such. You can book your ticket 4 months before the departure of the train. For the general public, only 50% of seats are available. Remaining 50% seats are allotted to different quotas and available to passengers who will come under that category. The various quotas are as follows.
1. GN (General Quota): These are the seats available for the general public.
2. TQ (Tatkal Quota): These are the seats available for all just 48 hours before the train starts its journey.
3. PT (Premium Tatkal Quota): These seats are available for all just 48 hours before the train starts its journey. The rates will be higher than the normal.
4. LD (Ladies Quota): The seats under this quota will be reserved to only ladies.
5. SS (Lower Berth Quota): Senior Citizens can book under this quota. Ladies above 45 years and pregnant ladies can also book under this quota.
6. HP (Physically Handicapped Quota): The seats under this quota are for persons who are physically challenged. All these people can book under this quota.
7. HO(Headquarters/High official Quota): These seats are available for the special quota where the railway employees for their head office can avail.
8. PH (Parliament House Quota): These seats are for MPs and MLAs who are travelling for official purposes.
9. DF (Defence Quota): Defence persons can book their tickets in this quota.
10. FT (Foreign Tourist Quota): Some seats are available for foreign tourists.
11. DP (Duty Pass Quota): All railway employees and retired employees who will be given some passes for travel can book their tickets in this quota/
12. YU (Yuva Quota): This is the quota for people who are between 15 and 45 and who are not having any job and who are travelling for attending an interview.

Sleeper class 3 tier, Sleeper Class 2 tier, Sleeper class AC 3 tier, Sleeper class AC 2 tier, Sleeper class Ist AC, first-class sleeper and AC chair cat (Sitting) are the various classes available for reservations. Each class will have all the above types of quotas.
Getting into the sleeper class by taking general ticket is not allowed. If you get into it, the difference in the fare and penalty will be charged and if no seats are available you may not be allotted any seat even after paying the above charges also.