Sleeper Class details & photos.

parimal_vijay

[Diagram from a post by steven_ber, link Sleeper Class details & photos., a definitive guide to the Indian Railways-A must read]

Difference between RAC, reserved ticket and waiting list


Every compartment has 72 seats. It is divided into 9 coupes. For example seats no 1-2-3-4-5-6 form one coupe, the next coupe consists of seats 9-10-11-12-13-14 and so on. All in all you have (9 coupes)*(6 seats per coupe) = (54 seats in coupes) in every compartment. These form the reserved seats.
Once these are filled then the seats beside the aisle are filled. So you have (9 aisle sectors opposite every coupes)*(2 seats per sector) = (18 side seats). These seats are called RAC seats - Reservation against Cancellation. The railways considers these as only seats and not as a berth (a bed) and hence says you will get a reserved berth in the coupe provide someone there cancels.
Beyond this comes the waiting list which is little less straightforward. An arbitrary limit on the maximum number of people allowable on the waiting list is set by the railway authorities for individual trains. Waiting list gets converted into an RAC which the gets converted into a reserved seat if there are sufficient cancellations.
If they are no cancellations and when you board the train you posses a ticket which is in waiting list, it is equivalent to an unreserved ticket and the rule is you have to travel in the general compartment. But you can usually get away with sitting in a reserved compartment provide you co-passengers don’t object (rare if not unheard of). The ticket collector (TC) might ask you to leave every time he passes by you (it’s his job), saunter off and return once he is gone. But it’s a fine line and if a ticket checking squad comes you will end up paying a fine which is a multiple of your current fare. The chances of this happening are remote.
Of course if you manage to grease the palm of the TC he will preferentially allot a seat/berth to you ahead of the people in RAC and waiting list. A ball park figure would be between 50-200 Rupees per seat depending on the whether its sleeper class or third ac and the distance involved.
The same etiquette applies to the third ac as well with a minor difference if you are in possession of a third ac waiting list unreserved ticket the rule puts you in the general compartment but since you have forked out a hefty sum the TC is neutral to you lounging about in the sleeper class compartments.
There is one TC for every three sleeper class compartments and a single TC for the AC compartments. On long journeys the TC will change for every 12 hours or if the train is passing from one railways to another (konkan to south western railways etc). So if you do manage to strike a deal make sure he makes the necessary changes on the ticket as well as on the list that is attached to his clipboard else the new TC might allot your seat/berth to another tired soul.

Brown Perspective.

Another useful post: Knowing the Indian Train

edwardseco

One of the great pleasures of the world Indian sleeper train travel. Never slept so well. Kudos to Steven for a master work..

federica

Thanks for this great thread! You must have spent a lot of time measuring all the berths etc., wow!

I am also a lover of sleeper class.... for me it's simply the best way to discover India!!!

Casey

I have travelled both classes and if I need to get a good night sleep I will choose one of the AC classes. I am a light sleeper and while being slapped awake by a singing hijra was fun the first few times it lost its appeal after a while. I have had fun on both sleeper and AC and enjoyed the company on both. I find that on some routes you are more likely to be placed in a berth full of other Western tourists on the sleeper class than you are on the AC routes. On either class, Indian train travel is a great experience! Oh, I also like the side berths on long journeys because of the windows and the ability to recline whenever you feel like it without a major climb.

Epicure

Hi Steven,

its a wonderful work. i would like to add a points to it.

Indian Railways offers medical assistence to passengers but many people dosen't know. If a passenger is sick on the moving train, he can approcach the TC to arrange for a doctor. The TC will arrange a doctor in the next station as the train stops. The passenger need to give the PNR number and small description of the illness to the TC. The railways even arrange for an ambulance the next station and refer them to the hospital if required.

Aishah

Epicure - I have a feeling there is a box on the booking form which is ticked if you are a doctor. Haven't done that form way for a while - it's all e-ticket now - is there something like this when you book online, Steven, do you remember?

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Epicure

The box in the reservations slip is for doctors to tick. The doctors would get some discount in the train ticket (don't know how much) and they need to produce the valid ID to the TC. There is one more box for senior citizens (60 years above)to tick to avail 50% discount on train tickets which again they need to produce the proof of birth to the TC. I am talking about the passenger on board (moving train) who by chance falls sick and need medical assistence. For instance, when i am travelling with my mom in a train after attending for a wedding , my mom (already suffering from fever,it was in summer) boarded the train and soon started vomiting. I asked the TC to arrange for a doctor in the next station and he did so. I hope this clarifies.

Aishah

I mentioned it because if the TC knows there is a doctor on board
there can be also be immediate Medical Assistance, as well as the sort you have posted, which is admirable and well worth knowing about. I thought this tick in box is to indicate on that journey there is a doctor on the train - not so much for whether he/she gets a discount or not?

Epicure

Tick box is to indicate on that journey there is a doctor on the train is one reason and the other reason is doctors will have the opportunity to avail concessions. Even there is a doctor on board, the passenger can still ask the TC to arrange for a doctor in the next station as is did this last year (didn't check whether there are any doctors travelling) when my mom was sick. The doctor on board may or may not have the first aid kit to assist.

shashank.aggarwal

Epicure and Aishah, in the meetup last month, our member vinayverma narrated an incident when one of the passengers in the same compartment he was traveling had a heart attack (stroke), and that was middle of nowhere. One of the pantry boys was informed and soon a horde of pantry boys were running around in the train shouting for a doctor, and Voila !! within 3-4 minutes there were three doctors attending to the patient, and luckily one of the doctors was carrying required medication as well, so the life of the traveler was saved !!

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Aishah

Marvellous, Shashank! A real good samaritan act there and saving life too. This sometimes happens in movie or live theatres - everything stops, and an announcement is made "Is there a doctor in the house?"

Oyar

HI Steven,

Great post. I have travelled almost 12000km in trains around India & most of it in sleeper class.

Yet your post was really worth going through. Everything is spot on!

Sadanand Kamath

It is clearly indicated on the Reservation Form that the tick box is to know that there is a doctor on the train who could be of help in an emergency. The category of doctors does not appear in the Travel Concession Table attached with the Train at a Glance.

As Aishah mentioned, it is more important to know that a doctor is on the train than the concession.

Sadanand

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Hamacasutra

I just booked some e-tickets today and did notice the "senior" tick option, but not the doctor one. Maybe it cannot be done online...

machadinha

You mean you're a foreign doctor? I don't think you'd fit the category...

In other words, the quota is for national doctors I believe. The amount of quotas is astounding, you'll find many of them not bookable online. See http://www.indianrail.gov.in/quotas.html

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