In a huge country like India, trains are the most convenient way of travel. It offers a multitude of things altogether which is something that every Indian falls for. A journey on a train is quite wholesome. It has food, companionship, adventure, fun, quality time to spend with yourself, and so much more. And for traveling by train efficiently, the first step you need to follow is train ticket booking online. A ticket is a mandatory instrument that one needs to be authorized to legally travel from one place to the other.
For trains in India, there are different statuses assigned. The confirmed status implies that you get a seat reserved for yourself throughout the journey. RAC, that is Reservation Against Cancellation, implies that the passenger has to share his/her berth with someone else, but they can travel.
Then comes the waitlist status.
We all have been witnesses to our PNR saying WL. It happens a lot when the season of traveling is at its peak and there are only a few seats left. Millions of people get a confirmed ticket in one go and many have to settle with RAC, or worse, a waitlist (WL) ticket.
A frequent traveler can understand the pains of having a waitlisted ticket even before the journey. For a WL status, the person is not allowed to travel until the ticket status is confirmed or RAC. The waitlisted ticket is generally denoted by WL followed by numbers.
For instance, let us assume that after your train ticket booking online, the status is WL09. It implies that to get a confirmed status or permission to travel, nine members who have booked before you will have to cancel their tickets. Your name on the waitlist means that you cannot travel.
Types of waiting lists
There are different categories of waiting lists named by the IRCTC. These categories help the passengers recognize their status easily without any hassle. Also, these are a part of the railway terminology. They can be helpful if you are a regular commuter and prefer train ticket booking online.
- GNWL– The GNWL, or the General Waiting List, is given when any passenger’s pick u and drop location is the same as that of the train’s start and end destinations. It is the most common type of waitlist that has the highest chances of getting confirmed.
- RLWL– It is the Remote Location Waitlist. It is given when a passenger begins his/her journey from an important intermediate location. All stations throughout the train route are named as remote locations. So, if you begin your journey from any such intermediate location and your ticket is not confirmed, you are given an RLWL status. Every remote location prepares its separate waiting list before two to four hours of the journey.
- PQWL– The Pooled Quota Waitlist is the one opposite to the RLWL. Here, if the passenger ends his or her journey on a station before the final destination of the train, it is called PQWL. There is one Pooled Quota Waiting List for the entire journey and the chances of confirmation are very less.
- RQWL– The Request Waiting List is prepared when a passenger has filled intermediate destinations for pick up and drop when train ticket booking online. these are rare kinds of waitlist and gets confirmed only if the passenger for the same locations cancels their ticket.
- TQWL– The Tatkal Quota Waitlist is the one for tickets booked under the Tatkal window. The general waitlist is preferred over the tatkal waitlist and therefore the chances of them getting cleared may be less.
What affects the waitlist?
For any train ticket booking online, there are multiple factors that determine the status of your ticket. They are as follows.
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The timings of the train
Statistics have shown that most of the passengers prefer trains that run between 5 pm and 10 pm. Since, most of the people tend to work before that, these timings are feasible. That is why the trains running between these hours are very popular. So, if you have booked a ticket during this time, you might have a waitlist status.
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Season
The season here may refer to the wedding season, or occasions, or festivals, that affect the number of people who travel by trains. The status of the trains may also depend on the rush that the railways face. Also, during such times, the passengers are less likely to cancel their tickets.
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Accidents, train cancellations, or natural calamities
The forces of nature are not in our hands. There may be accidents on the track, broken tracks, heavy rains, or any other natural causes that might stop the train from running on particular routes on specific days. It may not be reflected while train ticket booking online but will affect the train status.
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Quotas
Some seats are kept aside as quotas for VIPs, patients, foreigners, and specially-abled passengers. If these seats go empty and the railway releases these seats, you have the chance of getting a confirmed ticket.
The train ticket booking online window opens 120 days before the date of the journey. So, you need to be aware of all these things too. If you are late in booking the train tickets, you might have a waitlisted ticket.
And to stay updated on where is the status moving, you can regularly check the PNR status on your phones on the app. When you have booked train tickets online through a mobile-based application or website, the app will send you a text and email message that contains all the details.
These details also contain the Passenger Name Record (PNR) number. This number contains all the subtleties of the passengers traveling. When you enter this 10-digit number in the search box of the app, you will get the entire details.
It is important to know what is the status of your ticket. Therefore, the PNR status check facility is much needed with you all the time.
Other than that, keeping in mind the factors that affect the waitlist, you can anticipate the chances of your train ticket booking online status getting confirmed.
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