Reservation Charts - where are they?

ba9rn

In a large station, like New Delhi or Mumbai, is there a 'standard place' where I'd find the reservation chart, or is it just a matter of searching?

__________________
"After the battle, many new ghosts cry. The solitary old man murmurs in his grief." Du Fu

steven_ber

You'll find the reservation chart in 4 places.

1, In the main station concourse before you pass onto the platforms.

2, On the platform your train is departing from, normally near where you enter the platform from the stairs/bridge.

3, Next to your train carriage door, each reserve-able carriage has a list stuck to it including all the names of the people booked into that carriage.

4, The man in charge of the train, (Travelling Ticket Examiner-TTE) also has a complete list, you'll normally find him by the air-con carriages, he's the one that looks important and unfazed by all the madness around him.

All are easy to find, just look for a group of people around them.

You'll find your name, age and berth position on the chart.

If there are a couple of you travelling together and you didn't get berths next to each other, study the chart, look for families who may be travelling together who also didn’t get seated together, you'd be amazed what you can work out. (this option doesn't work well on Ahmedabad station when you see members of the Patel 'family' on the chart. )

The charts, like most things on a large Indian railway station are interesting and great fun, and can occupy your attention for quite a while, so get to the station early and relax and enjoy this time.

Be careful, luggage theft or even pickpockets know how to take advantage of the confusion and crowds on train stations and platforms, especially if you're in a rush, but a little common sense is all that’s needed.

__________________
.
How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


RAC & Waitlists explained.

ba9rn

Excellent. Thank you for your extremely rapid reply.

AvidTrekker

Steven,

as far as numbers 1 and 2 are concerned, these places are disappearing fast....

nowadays, at least in Mumbai [all stations] they just give the Waitlist charts at place nos 1 and 2 for those who want to see their W/L confirmations.

The regular charts are ONLY stuck on the compartmental spaces next to the door.

This is the state of affairs in Mumbai... other places I have not bothered to observe..

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

Digital Drifter

The charts on the main concourse are typically the waitlisted/RAC ones and not the complete one of 1000 odd passengers travelling. The same chart will also be found on the platform from where the train departs.

Then the charts are also, as steven said pasted on the carriages.

So if you're an RAC, be there an hour early, check out the charts to see which coach and then if you have the effort to, wiggle a berth from the TTR.

ummm...i just realised I could have saved typing by agreeing with AT.

__________________
Click here for the Indiamike train guide in PDF

steven_ber

Thanks for the update/correction AT & DD.

I only checked 1 & 2 the first couple of times I used trains in India, since then I've always gone direct to the train.

If I'm travelling air con it's easy to see where the air con carriages are, and if I'm traveling Sleeper Class I've usually booked a waitlisted ticket and check the lists (on 2) when I get to the platform.

I'm sure the last few times I checked the list on the platform, there was a full list of people for each carriage, maybe things are changing fast.

cyberhippie

As is normal for anything Indian, it's a mixed bag. I still see the charts being hung up on boards in the main concourse or platform 1 or even on the departure platform.

An interesting feature of reservation charts is that they often contain the coach number of your reserved carriage. Not the one that appears on you ticket, eg. S1 S2 A1 CC2. The actual coach number assigned to the carriage on its completion at the fabrication facility. This number is above the door of the carriage and never changes (unlike the assigned numbers on tickets) I've found it very useful in the past. Especially when the S1 - A1 number has disappeared altogether (Indian trains don't always follow obvious patterns, in sleeper class I often seen the numbers s1 s2 s3 s4 s5 s6 followed by s8, so a couple of missing number boards, can really mess things up)

Handy for the Kagoul, flask and sandwiches guys like Steven Ber as well

steven_ber

Great observation, I'd never noticed this.

It's easier in India to just hire a Chai wallah for the day and get him to fetch the samosas.