RAC and Waitlists explained.

I booked a ticket and got the PNR number.
When I enter the PNR on the indianrail website, it shows me the following:

Booking Status: W/L 21, GNWL
Current Status: Confirmed

Can anyone please explain what do these numbers mean? Am I waitlisted or the ticket is confirmed?

Your ticket is confirmed. Check the charts for coach/berth number.

Congrats...your ticket is confirmed. Now just check the status after preparation of the charts which is generally done 2 hours before the departure of the train.
You can check it at the station...

Thanks to you both for your quick reply.
Its happy time. I've booked a few days in advance, so it just says charts not yet prepared.
Can you please also clear my other doubts? If the ticket is confirmed, what does the W/L under the Booking Status mean?
Also, when I initiated the booking, it showed the ticket as Available, and just after the booking finished, I checked the PNR and it showed exactly the same as above. If the tickets were available, how I went into the waitlist and also it got confirmed too??
Its very very very confusing to me :'(

Do not be confused. Ticket is confirmed. Happy travels.

Ok! Thanks for the details!!
Wish you all Success...

WL21 is your point in the queue, just that others ahead of you (confirmed or RAC or WL) cancelled already, so you got a CNF status on booking. Now, which seat of the cancelled lot you will get is decided at charting only.

Hey there,

I have a query about the time allotted for cancellation of tickets.

I have a confirmed e ticket for rajdhani exp leaving chennai at 0600 hr on 01 Jun 2012.

If I wish to cancel this ticket and obtain full refund, less rs 60.00.

Option I: do I have to cancel it more than 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train i.e. before 0600 hr on 31 May 2012.

Option II: or do I have to cancel it one day before the day of journey, excluding the date of journey i.e. before 2359 hr on 30 May 2012.

Some websites advocate Option I while some go for Option II.

Help!!!

Option 1.

I second that. Rely on the 'Refund Rules' by IR, not any other site.

If Chennai would not have been the starting/charting station for him, then the said rules in the official website would have proved incorrect.

Why Dipyman?

The rules: ) In the case of tickets issued for travel from some other stations refunds shall be admissible at the ticket issuing station provided that the ticket is surrendered before the schedule departure of the train from the station from where the ticket is valid.

This is quite clear I think ?

Good wishes... always

Sir,

OP was concerned about e-tickets and not counter/i tickets.
Stations where chart is not made fall under the risk of untimely chart preparation. Chart timings then depends upon the previous remote/charting station. Even though the said rules of 24 hours/24-4 hours and everything else mentioned in the official website still works, one has to be careful about the chart preparation timings.
Because:
1) Once the chart is prepared for the previous remote station/originating station (Depends with which station the latter one shares quota/chart with), one cannot cancel e-tickets.
2) Forwarding of berths from originating/previous remote station is yet again another concern.

Dipyaman,Thanks.. I will take it under advisement. First, whether it be an e-ticket or a counter booked ticket, the rules remain the same. 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train. In the case of E-ticket it becomes even easier because the person/s can do it sitting at home; anyway they can't go to the station. Two, even if you say, chart has been prepared elsewhere, the rule would still apply because of the words :surrendered before the schedule departure of the train from the station from where the ticket is valid.

Unless you have personal experience of the kind of problem you envisage, I would say this holds good.

Of course you are right in being cautious about the whole matter. I am very happy to see your postings about Indian Railways in such variety and depth. Keep going.. good wishes

When I say chart has been prepared elsewhere I necessarily mean that the same would directly effect your travel plans. You must be well aware that not every station sees charting. Many of them shares charting with a previous remote station or may be the originating station. It is for those stations which does not sees charting we have to be extra cautious. If we imagine a case of A-B-C-D where A is the starting B is a big intermediate station, C is your boarding and D is the terminating station.
Let us assume that the chart for C is prepared at B. Train leaves B at 6 am (29th May) in the morning to reach C at 4 pm the next day (30th May). Now if we go by the traditional 24 hour rule we should be able to cancel a confirmed ticket on 29th May at 4 pm. However by this time train has already left B, chart has already been prepared for B=> meaning it has also been prepared for C.
Again if we assume train leaves B at 11 am (29th May) to reach C again at 11:05 am the next day (30th May). Now effectively we can cancel the ticket for C well before 11 am (29th May) (24 hours rule). However due to the morning departure of the train from B (11 am), chart for the same may be prepared the previous night (28th May). Hence again the 24 hours rule becomes ineffective since you cannot cancel e-tickets after the chart is made.

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Kindly note here that when I say chart is prepared it means that chart is prepared for B and since C shares its quota/charting with B, chart for C is also made at the same time.