Many times, it happens that you don’t have a confirmed ticket, but you need to take a train trip. Maybe, because it’s urgent to go somewhere, or you booked a train ticket earlier in tatkal, premium tatkal, or general quota but haven’t received the confirmed or RAC ticket status. There can be multiple reasons for getting a waitlisted ticket, including unavailability of the seat in certain quotas, festive or weekend rush, etc.
People wait till chart preparation in the hope that they might get a confirmed ticket. But sometimes, it doesn’t happen, and they are forced to accept that they won’t get confirmed ticket status. But do you know? Things don’t end here. You can get a confirmed ticket even after chart preparation.
Facility to Book Train Ticket After Chart Preparation
On the Indian Railway platform, you might see passengers without confirmed tickets thronging around TTEs to check train ticket confirmation after chart preparation. In some intense situations, many passengers with unreserved tickets inquire about vacant seats on the train.
To eliminate the hustle and bustle at the stations, a new initiative has been taken by the Indian Railways, which enables passengers to book a ticket even after the train charting is completed. It brought transparency in the system that enabled the travellers to check the position of vacant berths in running trains so that they could book confirmed tickets instantly online or with the help of TTE. The initiative contributes to the optimum utilisation of vacant berths in trains by giving a chance to passengers with unreserved tickets a high probability of getting a confirmed ticket even after chart preparation. Moreover, It will also enhance the revenue of Railways.
The feature of booking and enquiries about vacant seats on running trains is available on IRCTC’s official website, and the Rail connect app.
How to Get Confirm Train Ticket on IRCTC After Charting
Intending to promote and adopt Digital India, IRCTC offers almost every service on its official online portal. It is easier for passengers to access the IRCTC website and book tickets. Even booking Tatkal tickets has become easy. Apart from ticket booking, it provides other options like checking the train schedule, train running status, ordering food on train, checking PNR Status and others. Now, this new feature will display the number of vacant berths after the final train chart preparation. Travellers can see the available vacant seats just before the departure of the train or during the journey.
You can see the vacant berths only after chart preparation.
Procedure to Check Vacant Seats Online
Checking the train chart online at IRCTC Website is simple, and you need to follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Visit the IRCTC e-ticketing website, or IRCTC rail connect app. A new option, ‘Charts/Vacancy,’ is shown. Click on it, and you will be redirected to a new page.
- Enter Train Name/Train Number, Journey Date and Boarding Station.
- Click on “GET TRAIN CHART”
- Now you will see the reservation chart on the screen.
- Click on your preferred class to see the vacant berth number, coach number, and berth type.
Ticket Reservation Process after Chart Preparation
- Passengers planning to travel on a particular route with no confirmed tickets can log in to the IRCTC website or rail connect app.
- Check the vacant seat availability on the train after charting. It will display the total number of seats available in each class of travel.
- Now ‘Click’ on the booking option. If you can’t book the ticket online, there will be instructions to book a ticket with the TTE to a certain station.
- The traveller can consult the TTE in running trains and request him/her to generate a ticket for the route.
Benefits of Online Train Chart Availability
- The chart will now upgrade dynamically. As the train proceeds to the destination, the real-time availability of the berths is automatically updated.
- Vacant seats will be visible and can be reserved 4 hours before train departure from that station.
- It will also help to minimise the traffic of passengers travelling with waiting list tickets.
- This facility is made available for all mail trains and express trains.
- The online chart layout shows the train number, boarding station, charting station, travel class, and the time on which the chart is updated last.
Time of Online Chart Preparation
According to IRCTC Guidelines, chart preparation is done twice. One chart will be prepared 4 hours before the train’s scheduled departure time, while the second and final chart will be prepared 30 minutes before the departure time of the train. Passengers haunting their minds with queries like “will RAC ticket get confirmed after chart preparation” or “will my waitlist ticket be confirmed after charting is done” can relax their minds by using this new feature.
Factors Contributing to the Availability of Vacant Seats After Chart Preparation
Quotas: Specific seats are assigned under handicapped, VIP, Foreign, and patient quotas. Mostly such seats go empty, and the Railways release them at the last moment.
Seasonal rush: If there is a festival rush in your route, then the chances of vacant seats become low, as most confirmed ticket holders who book tickets are very unlikely to cancel.
Train Cancellations/Natural Calamities: As these factors can’t be predicted, you just have to wish that a predicament such as these does not occur close to your journey date.
Recommended Read: Why Travellers don’t get their preferred berth while booking Train Tickets
Booking Tickets for Vacant Seats for offline Travellers
If you are not a regular user of the IRCTC website, you can also get information about the vacant seats on the train. For this, you have to contact the on-duty TTE of a particular train on board. If a vacant seat is available, ask TTE to get your reservation done. Besides, You can also contact PRS reservation counters for a particular train and its seat availability.
Can WL Tickets be Confirmed After Chart Preparation?
Yes, you can get a confirmed ticket if you have boarded the train with a waitlisted ticket or without a ticket. The e-waitlist list ticket will automatically get cancelled. You can book the vacant seat after chart preparation with TTE or IRCTC’s official website or app.
What Happens During Chart Preparation?
During chart preparation, Indian railways allotted final seats for all the passengers. During this process, some waitlisted tickets get confirmed. All RAC and CNF ticket status holders receive berth and coach numbers and completely waitlisted e-tickets are automatically cancelled.
Rail passengers with confirmed journey status can book their train meals for the journey. RailRestro, an e-catering app, offers varieties of food on train, including veg, nonveg, Jain, and regional. With this app, passengers can conveniently order train food and get it delivered directly to their seats. The official e-catering app offers delicious taste and proper hygiene on trains.
Moreover, the app allows passengers to check PNR status, live train running status, and online train schedule.