India · Reference

Indian Railways glossary

Every code you meet on a ticket, a PNR page or the IRCTC booking form, in one sentence each, with a page behind it and the tool that acts on it.

Travel classes

The two-letter class codes on every ticket.

1AAC First Class
The highest class on an Indian train: lockable cabins of two or four berths, full air-conditioning, bedding and the highest fare on the scale.
2AAC 2-Tier
Air-conditioned sleeper coach with two berths stacked per side of a bay, curtains for privacy, and bedding included.
3AAC 3-Tier
The most common AC class: three berths stacked per side of a bay, 64 to 72 berths a coach, bedding included.
3EAC 3-Tier Economy
A denser version of 3A introduced in 2021, with more berths per coach and a fare a little below 3A.
SLSleeper Class
The non-AC sleeping class that carries most of India: 72 berths a coach, open windows, no bedding, and the base fare every other class is a multiple of.
CCAC Chair Car
Air-conditioned reclining seats for daytime trains: Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi, Vande Bharat and the intercity expresses.
ECExecutive Chair Car
The premium seat on Shatabdi and Vande Bharat: 2+2 layout, more legroom, and a fare close to AC First.
2SSecond Sitting
A reserved, numbered seat in a non-AC coach: the cheapest way to have a guaranteed place on a daytime train.
GN / URGeneral (Unreserved) coach
The unreserved coaches at each end of the train: no seat number, no booking, a ticket bought at the counter or on the UTS app and valid on any train of the type.

PNR & booking status

What the status line on a PNR actually says.

PNRPassenger Name Record
The ten-digit number that identifies one booking, every passenger on it, and its current status.
CNFConfirmed
You have a berth or seat. The coach and berth number appear once the chart is prepared.
RACReservation Against Cancellation
You may board and travel, on a shared side-lower berth to begin with, and get a full berth if a confirmed passenger drops out.
WLWaitlist
No berth yet. The number is your position in the queue for that quota, and the code before it says which queue.
CANCancelled
The passenger or the whole booking has been cancelled, either by the passenger or automatically at charting.
NOSBNo Seat Berth
A child aged 5 to 11 booked at half fare without a berth: they travel on the accompanying adult’s berth.
CURR_AVBLCurrent Availability
Berths still free after the chart is prepared, bookable at the counter or online as current booking until the final chart.
REGRET
Not even a waitlist is available: the quota and its waitlist are both full, and no ticket can be issued.
ChartReservation chart
The list of who has which berth. The first chart, prepared hours before departure, is when waitlists stop moving and berths are allotted.

Waitlist codes

The five waitlists, and why the same number behaves differently on each.

GNWLGeneral Waitlist
The general waitlist, issued from the train’s origin: the largest pool of cancellations and the best-clearing waitlist by far.
RLWLRemote Location Waitlist
The waitlist for journeys between intermediate stations: a small pool, so the same number clears far less often than GNWL.
PQWLPooled Quota Waitlist
A pooled waitlist shared by several intermediate stations: one small quota, many claimants, and among the weakest waitlists.
RSWLRoadside Station Waitlist
The waitlist from the origin to a smaller roadside station: a modest quota with few cancellations against it.
TQWLTatkal Waitlist
The Tatkal waitlist: almost nobody cancels a Tatkal ticket, so it barely moves and clears behind GNWL at charting.

Booking & quotas

The rules, windows and quotas that decide who gets a berth.

ARPAdvance Reservation Period
How far ahead a train can be booked: 60 days before the journey date, excluding the journey day, since 1 November 2024.
Tatkal
A last-minute quota that opens one day before travel, at 10:00 IST for AC classes and 11:00 for non-AC, at a premium over the fare and with no refund on a confirmed cancellation.
Premium Tatkal
A Tatkal quota on selected trains sold at a dynamic fare that rises as berths sell, with the same one-day window and no refund at all.
Quota
A share of the berths on a train set aside for one kind of passenger or booking. Which quota you book in decides your waitlist and your odds.
HO quotaHead Office (Emergency) quota
A small reserve of berths released by the railway headquarters against written requests, allotted at charting.
FT quotaForeign Tourist quota
Berths reserved for foreign passport holders, bookable 365 days ahead, at a fare paid in foreign currency or its rupee equivalent.
VIKALPAlternate Train Accommodation Scheme (ATAS)
Opt in at booking and a waitlisted ticket may be moved to a confirmed berth on another train on the same route, at no extra fare.
Break journey
Stopping over at a station en route on a single long-distance ticket, allowed once per 500 km for up to two days.
Master list
Passengers saved in your IRCTC profile in advance so they can be added to a booking in one click, which is what makes a Tatkal booking fast.
IRCTCIndian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
The public-sector company that runs online ticketing for Indian Railways, plus catering, tourism and Rail Neer. Its website and app are where every e-ticket is booked.

Berths & coaches

Berth codes, coach types and the rules on board.

LBLower Berth
The bottom berth in a bay, which doubles as the seat for the bay in the daytime. The most requested berth, with a quota of its own for seniors and women over 45.
MBMiddle Berth
The berth between lower and upper in Sleeper and 3A, folded flat against the wall during the day and opened for sleeping between 10 pm and 6 am.
UBUpper Berth
The top berth in a bay: yours all day, out of the daytime traffic, and the usual answer when a lower berth cannot be had.
SL (berth)Side Lower berth
The lower berth along the corridor, shorter than a bay berth and split into two seats by day. The berth RAC passengers share.
SUSide Upper berth
The upper berth along the corridor: private, a little short, and the coldest spot in an AC coach.
LHB / ICFLinke Hofmann Busch / Integral Coach Factory coaches
The two coach designs on the network. LHB coaches are newer, faster, safer and have more berths per coach, which changes the berth numbering.
TTETravelling Ticket Examiner
The on-board official who checks tickets and IDs, allots vacant berths after departure, and collects penalties and excess fares.

Fares, charges & refunds

Every line item on the fare, and what comes back when you cancel.

Basic fare
The distance-based part of the fare, before the reservation fee, superfast charge and GST. Concessions and Tatkal charges are calculated on this figure alone.
Reservation fee
A fixed per-passenger charge for booking a reserved berth or seat, set by class and added to every reserved ticket.
Superfast charge
A fixed surcharge, by class, on every ticket for a train classified as Superfast, which is most named expresses today.
Flexi fareDynamic fare
On Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto the fare rises in steps as berths sell, up to about 1.4 times the base fare.
Cancellation charge
What is deducted when you cancel: a flat amount by class if you cancel early, 25% or 50% of the fare closer to departure, and nothing back inside the last hours.
Clerkage
The small fixed deduction, ₹60 plus GST per passenger, on cancelling an RAC or waitlisted ticket, and on a waitlisted e-ticket dropped at charting.
TDRTicket Deposit Receipt
The claim you file when you did not travel and cannot cancel normally: train cancelled or hours late, AC failed, no berth given, or you never boarded. Refund is decided later, not on the spot.

Reading a PNR right now?

The PNR guide walks through booking status versus current status, what changes at charting, and what each code means for whether you can travel.

Read the PNR guideCheck waitlist chances

Editorial Trust Panel

Last reviewed

September 15, 2026

Content update

Auto-updated on Jun 28, 2026

Scope: Definitions follow the published Indian Railways and IRCTC rules; figures are read from the same engines as the calculators.

Primary references

IRCTC Official PortalIndian Railways
Rules reviewed

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