Tickets booked without seat/coach indication

Hi all! I've just done my first online reservations for Indian trains, and something is not very clear.
I have booked two berths in 3A from Agra Fort to Varanasi JN for 9th March, and I got a confirmation with berths numbers and coach indication.
Then I have booked two berths in 1A from Delhi S Rohilla to Nawalgarh for 13th March; I got the confirmation, but I have no berths number assigned (the berths number reports 00 for both passengers) nor the coach indication.
What's wrong? When I checked the availability there were 2 places available, and the status of my reservation is CONFIRMED. Is it maybe that on that train and class there are only two places in 1A without numbers, or did something go wrong?
Thanks for your help!
Gianni, Rome

Of course, your case may be different, but on the one trip we made in first class in India (all our others were either 2AC or 3AC) we also had confirmed seats but, for reasons we never did find out, no berth numbers. We were told to wait until we were ready to board the train and ask the conductor to allocate these.

Knowing that the stations post lists of passengers and seat numbers a couple of hours prior to the train's departure (we found our names on these lists every other time), we turned up an hour before departure and scanned the list. Nothing at all about us. We started to feel disquiet.

So, we waited until the train was in the platform and (as instructed) asked the conductor. He had his own list -- different to the pasted-up one at the station -- and, lo and behold, we were on it. In no time at all we were in our berths and the train was on its way.

Hope this is your experience too!

Thanks Jarman. I have just received this message from IRCTC customer service:

Dear Customer,

Please note that your ticket has been successfully booked under PNR
XXXXXXXXXX from From DEE To NWH for Date 13-Mar-2005 .
you are holding a confirmed ticket but still you will not be allote a
birth no or coach no.You will be allote birth and coach no after chart
will prepare.The chart will prepare three or four hours before the
actual departure time of the train. So you have to wait till that time.

So it seems that for the 1AC class you don't have the berths numbers assigned at the time of reservation, but you have to go durectly to the train and check which ones have been allocated to you.

The same information is reported in the IRCTC website, under the menu "Rules / reservation":

INDICATION OF BERTH/SEAT NUMBERS :- Passengers with confirmed reservation will be allotted berths at the time of booking and the coach and berth numbers are indicated on the ticket itself, except in case of first class ACC and first class coaches. The compartment/cabin/coupe numbers for first ACC and first class are allotted at the time of chart preparation.

This explains everything!

Gianni

Same happened to me. Found my name on the list outside the wagon, not in the ticket.

In Air Conditioned First Class (1A) and non air con First Class (FC) there are only (closed) compartments of 4 and (closed) compartments of 2 (coupe's).

If berths were allocated at the time the tickets were purchased, a young woman may find herself in a compartment with 3 men, or a coupe with 1 man.

The berths are allocated in the last few hours before the departure time of the train, this allows couples to get the coupe's and women to share with other women and so on.

Sometimes on a particular train until the last day they do not know what configuration coach they may be using.. So you may not know the seat / berth number you will be allotted.

This however is not a cause for any great worry.. you would know your seat number when the chart is prepared , usually 3 hours before the departure. Also the chart is displayed about one hour before the departure on the platform from where the train is leaving.

In a rare situation when there is no AC1 coach available. they would accomodate you in the next alternative ona priority basis.

>>If berths were allocated at the time the tickets were purchased, a young woman may find herself in a compartment with 3 men, or a coupe with 1 man.<<

That happened to me once, in 1989, and it was truly weird. The railroad put a conductor into my compartment to keep an eye on things....