To confirm train reservation you check PNR status. Each Ticket booked via IRCTC or Indian Railway reservation counter, has a 10 digit PNR number which is unique for every ticket issued. It is printed on train ticket itself.
The current status of your PNR my be different from what it was when you purchased ticket or last checked status of the ticket on your mobile. To do it you need to download one of the official railway apps for android phone developed by Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS).
Each time you check the status of your railway ticket, by submitting your PNR number, the Indian Railway Enquiry system will return one of the following 14 codes which indicates current reservation status. This is live status of your railway ticket.
Do you know?: You can check PNR status by sending sms. You don't need any train info like train number, departure time, destination station. Only info you need is 10 digit pnr.
If you are looking for train status, you can check live running status of passenger train. Above mentioned information/ details is needed in this case.
Please also checkout : What can/mod PNR status means in IRCTC? You can browse around this website for other important railway information.
The current status of your PNR my be different from what it was when you purchased ticket or last checked status of the ticket on your mobile. To do it you need to download one of the official railway apps for android phone developed by Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS).
Each time you check the status of your railway ticket, by submitting your PNR number, the Indian Railway Enquiry system will return one of the following 14 codes which indicates current reservation status. This is live status of your railway ticket.
Do you know?: You can check PNR status by sending sms. You don't need any train info like train number, departure time, destination station. Only info you need is 10 digit pnr.
If you are looking for train status, you can check live running status of passenger train. Above mentioned information/ details is needed in this case.
# | PNR Status Code | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | CNF | It indicates that your train ticket is confirmed. You will also be shown your coach number and seat number. Sometimes seat and coach is allocated at later stage. |
2 | WL | It indicates that your ticket is kept in a list of passengers who are waiting for confirmation. As and when the seats become available (which happens when railway attach additional coaches or when seats of certain reserved quota doesn't get filled up till chart preparation of a train), you might get a berth. Two WL are shown. First one tells your train ticket status at time of booking, while the second one points to current position in waiting list. If your position doesn't improve i.e. tickets is not confirmed, you cannot board the train. You can cancel the wait-listed(WL) train ticket up until half an hour before the train departure. |
3 | RAC | Customers having Reservation Against Cancellation or RAC as their railway ticket status can board the train. In RAC a passenger shares berth with another passenger having same status. If enough people cancel their ticket, you can get a full berth too. |
4 | TQWL | Similar to waiting list, but here you have done booking under Tatkal Scheme. |
5 | WEBCAN | You haven't collected your refund after cancelling your train ticket. Also you booked your railway ticket at railway reservation office counter but cancelled it online on www.irctc.co.in |
6 | WEBCANRF | Indicates that ticket was booked at railway counter, cancelled online, and you have received refund for it. |
7 | PQWL | Pooled Quota Waiting List. This is another type of waiting list of people whose rail tickets haven't confirmed yet. Those having this type of waiting list ticket must consider themselves very unlucky as they will get accommodation in reserved coach only when someone else having confirmed tatkal ticket do ticket cancellation(which is obviously very rare). In other words chances of getting confirmed seat is very less. But you should not loose hope keep checking your PNR status till the time final reservation charts are prepared. |
8 | GNWL | PNR having General Waiting List status have chance of confirmation when tickets already having confirmed are cancelled. |
9 | RLWL | These tickets are issued for travelling between intermediate stations. These have high chances of getting confirmed. People who see Remote Location Wait List, has good chance of pnr confirmation. Usually railway has a set quota of seats reserved for travelling between 2 particular stations on a train route. These seats mostly remain unoccupied. When chart is prepared, RLWL list gets cleared very fast. Of course, Seat availability plays important role. |
10 | RSWL | With tiny chance of getting confirmed, railway issues train tickets with RSWL (Road side waiting list) status. This ticket is only issued to those customers who do booking from train originating (source) station up to a small station on its route. |
11 | NR | NR stands for No Room. It means that all seats are occupied, and there is no chance of getting seat even in waiting or tatkal quota. IRCTC next generation e-ticketing system will not allow you to do booking if train status is already NR. |
12 | NOSB | NO seat/berth. Basically it is for child passenger. You have to pay full fare as no seats are left to be provided at half fare for children below 12 years of age. |
13 | RL | RL stands or 'released'. As you know train tickets can be booked 120 days in advance. After 120 days when train has departed, the Indian Railway flushes out the PNR records from their database, as they are of no use. This called "release". |
14 | CAN | Ticket is cancelled. It is displayed to those people who booked railway tickets online and have cancelled them online as well. |