What does WL/5 on irctc train booking mean?

Hello,

I am trying to book a ticket on the Shatbdi train between Bharatpur (BTE) and Sawai Madhopur (SWM) from the Indian Rail online booking site irctc.

When I bring up this train or the other alternative Golden Temple Mail, I see that there is only Wait Listed seats available.

I see under "Status" it may say something like WL/5 or WL/15 for another train.

Does the number after WL indicate the number of people ahead of you on the waitlist?

Is there usually a good chance to get a seat if you are on the waitlist?

Thanks for any information.

Yup!! WL/5 means you are in waiting list at number 5, this means only 4 persons are ahead in waiting list, which further means you have really good chances of getting seat than WL/15 or WL150 . If you are getting WL/5 just grab it.

Mk

It really depends, if ur booking let's say a week before & u are getting WL/5 or WL/15 then there is high possibility of getting into RAC or even a ticket. As people do cancel tickets for one thing or the other 24 hrs. before as u get full money back. If its just 2-3 days left for the journey then its 50-50. IIRC there are 80 RAC (Reservation against Cancellation) tickets . Good times

By the way....

Train 9038 (Tu, Th, Sa, Su.) and train 9040 (M, W, F.) depart Agra Fort (AF) station at 05:30, then Fatehpur Sikri (FTS) at 06:18 and get to Sawai Madhopur at 09:25 (2A, 3A, SL.)

Waitlisted tickets have 2 waitlist numbers.......

WL/15 ----WL/05

The above waitlist number would mean that you joined the waitlist at position 15, but due to cancellations (before and after you bought the ticket) you have now moved to waitlist position 5.

The first number will always remain the same, only the 2nd number will move.

After another 5 cancellations you will move onto an RAC (reserved against cancellation) number, so you will then be.....

WL/15 ----RAC/04 (for example)

RAC gets you a seat, but not a berth.

A berth is kept as 2 seats, one more cancellation or person not showing up in your carriage will allow one of you to take that persons berth and then the 2 seats are turned into a single berth, meaning you both get a berth.

There are only a few RAC positions in each carriage.

WL/15 ----RAC/04 would mean that you would get a confirmed berth after 4 more cancellations.

Most cancellations take place in the last few days before the train is due to depart.

The whole system is very complex, different rules to different trains, this train is more likely to get confirmed berths than that train and so on, and so on.

I have a horrible feeling there is a reason and you've explained this before: but why do they tell the first number (situation when you joined the queue)? Isn't only where you are now that matters?

But RAC you will have atleast sitting arrangement.

it makes matters easier for Indian Railways & nobody can be accused of favoritism. Steven ber is fully accurate in his assesments. IIRC there is something like 80 RAC for the regular trains. For the newer 24 coaches there has been talk of having something like 90 RAC tickets.

Sorry, but how? I really don't see what use it is to me knowing what the situation was when I booked the ticked several weeks later.

But I'm sure I remember someone (probably Steven) saying that the information is useful.

Nick the first number gives you an idea of the cancellation trend.

Sorry Nick, there is a good reason, I just can't remember at the moment, I need to get my train head on.

AH!

So WL50/WL3 is more optimistic than WL6/WL3 over the same period. Is that the right reasoning?

it simply means tht those many people have moved to RAC. Tht's about it, simply speaking it's like speculating in the stock-market. On the trend u understand the chances of getting a ticket. Although everything is on the wire the day before. After every 6 hrs. the kind of money u get for cancellation decreases, with 50% refund after the train has left again for 3 days

hey dhee, so have u finally got a Reserved seat now.? whtas ur position now--hope u got it..have a wonderful journey

Thanks all for the information. Here's the situation that I'm now confused about.

With a WL position, I cannot book an e-ticket.

So, if I book an i-ticket for a WL position and get it couriered to my cabby's place, how do I know if/when I have a confirmed seat?

I live abroad and have no idea what the ticket looks like. So, will the ticket delivered say WL/1? still Currently the position available is WL 1/WL 1. Which according to all your posts means I have a pretty good shot. But how do I know when that WL1 has actually moved into the RAC category after ticketing?

My cabby keeps saying that he sees 2 open spots in Chair class and that I should send him my information so he can book it. But I would prefer to do it myself. Its just that I don't see what he sees on irctc...maybe he's looking elsewhere?

So Confused!

Thanks!!!