PNR Status

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PNR

Ever wondered how the 10-digit PNR number is generated? Or what do the digits indicate? The Indian Railways passenger name record, also known as PNR, is a number that gives a variety of travel information to ticket-holders. The PNR status includes information such as the booking status - whether the ticket has been confirmed, it is on waiting list (WL) or it is under reservation against cancellation (RAC) - apart from giving basic information on arrival and departure time of trains. The PNR status has details of the coach and seat number and the fare paid by the passenger, among other details. NDTV Rail Beeps search will help you find out the accurate PNR status of your train journey with the Indian Railways.

How To Check PNR Status?

Checking your PNR status is easy. All you need to do is to enter your PNR number on the search bar above. It will then show you the PNR status of your ticket. Although you will see the PNR number on the top-left corner of the train ticket, the PNR number on the e-ticket appears in a different place - it will be printed on the top half of the page.

How PNR Works?

The Centre of Railway Information Systems or CRIS runs a database where all information about passengers are fed and stored. The system creates a 10-digit PNR status number every time a person buys an Indian Railways ticket on the IRCTC website, private travel websites or at ticket counters. IRCTC refers to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.

In terms of group bookings, a single PNR number can include a maximum of six passengers.

What does PNR number include:

Passenger Details (Name, Age, Sex, Birth Preference)

Ticket Details (Train No, Date, From, To, Boarding Station, Reservation Upto, Class, Berth, Quota)

Transaction / Payment Details (Transaction ID, Payment Mode, Ticket Charge)

The first 3 digits of the PNR tell us from which Passenger Reservation System or PRS the ticket has been booked.

The PNR numbers' starting digit depends on Zone of the Train, w.r.t. starting station of the train.

Number Code Zone

1 SCR Secunderabad PRS

2, 3 NR, NCR, NWR, NER New Delhi PRS

4, 5 SR, SWR, SCR Chennai PRS

6, 7 NFR, ECR, ER, ECoR, SER, SECR Calcutta PRS

8, 9 CR, WCR, WR Mumbai PRS

The last seven digits are randomly generated numbers using the Rand() function. These numbers represent no information about the ticket or journey as such. They only provide an unique identity to the PNR number.

You can check PNR Status number at https://www.ndtv.com/indian-railway

All you need to do is enter the PNR below to get the current status. You will find it on the top left corner of the ticket.) PNR status can also be checked at every major stations, where PNR stats checking counters are available.

PNR number on ticket

PNR number is usually printed at the top left corner of the tickets that are available at the railway station booking window. In case of the E - Ticket, the PNR number is mentioned at top in a separate cell.

Importance of PNR status

It is quite common to find your train ticket on waiting list while booking tickets on Indian Railways. To check whether your ticket is confirmed, you need to check your current PNR status. You can easily do this online at https://www.ndtv.com/indian-railway/.

How to enquire PNR status

Steps - open railbeeps.com >> Enter your PNR number >> Search

You will get PNR status in 3 easy steps.

Other ways to enquire PNR status are:

1. Current reservation status check using SMS

2. Mobile applications

3. Railway enquiry counters at railway station

4. Final reservation charts

5. Other websites

PNR status and railway reservations explained step by step :

Waiting List and RAC

Once all available seats on a train are sold, the Indian railway releases RACs for railway reservations. When all of the RAC seats are sold, Waiting List tickets are released. The status of the tickets might vary based on a variety of reasons. Ticket cancellations by other passengers can increase your chances if you have an RAC or Waiting List ticket. RAC/WL ticket holders are also likely to get available seats in different quotas if they remain unused.

Tickets are sold by the Indian Railways in the following order:

Available 02
Available 01
RAC 01
RAC 02
RAC 03
RAC 04
WL 01
WL 02

Understanding your ticket status

There are two numbers mentioned on your ticket. The numbers detail the position at which you joined the waitlist and the current position of your ticket- in this order. Here is an example:

When you book a train ticket online, you find the train number and class – AC, second class, third class etc mentioned on the e-ticket along with the seat/berth that you want along with the date and time. Let’s consider that you buy a ticket with WL5/WL2.

This means that you joined the WL at position 5, but by the time you paid for the ticket and actually bought the ticket online you moved to position 2. The position may have varied from WL5 to WL2 either due to a cancellation or due to someone not making a final booking. While

the first number (WL5 in this case) will stay the same, the second number will decrease until you get a ticket (hopefully).

This is how the status of your reservation status could look like – in that order:

WL 5/WL 2
WL 5/WL 1
WL 5/RAC 3
WL 5/RAC 2
WL 5/RAC 1
WL 5/CNF

PNR status and seat availability

The following breakout explains how a ticket status plays a pivotal role in train journeys

RAC - In RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation), the passenger is allowed to travel and two passengers share the same berth. If a confirmed passenger does not board the train, a full berth is allotted to the passenger with RAC ticket.

CNF - The passenger seat has been confirmed and the seat will be allotted after charting

CAN - The passenger seat has been cancelled

WL - The passenger with Waitlist ticket is in the waiting list and is not allowed to board the train. A waitlist ticket can be cancelled by the passenger 30 minutes before the departure of the train. If a WL ticket does not get confirmed, it gets cancelled automatically.

GNWL - A General Waitlist ticket which gets confirmed after the passengers cancel their confirmed bookings.

TQWL - TQWL stands for Tatkal Waitlist. When a passenger does a tatkal booking and is put on the wait list, the status is shown as TQWL. This ticket is least likely to get confirmed.

PQWL - Under Pooled Quota Waitlist, passengers traveling between intermediate stations and have a separate waitlist from the general waitlist.

RLWL - A Remote Location Waitlist has the high chances of confirmation. Smaller stations have separate quota of seats and waiting seats on these intermediate stations are given RLWL status.

RSWL - A station specific waitlist is called a Road-Side Waitlist.

NR - NR means ‘No Room’ and no further bookings are allowed with a NR ticket

NOSB - NOSB is acronym for No Seat Berth. Children below 12 years of age pay child fare and are not allotted seats. Their PNR status shows NOSB – No Seat Berth.

REL - REL stands for Released

WEBCAN - It’s a Railway Counter Ticket. When a passenger has been cancelled over internet and the refund has not been collected.

WEBCANRF - It’s a Railway Counter Ticket. When a passenger has been cancelled over internet and the refund has been collected.

WL and RAC refunds

If your train is ready for departure and its reservation chart is finalized, the cost of your WL ticket will be automatically refunded to your bank account.

Till when are PNR numbers valid?

Normally, the digits of Passanger name record or PNR become meaningless after the completion of the journey. The PNR details may not be available to the public once the journey gets completed for privacy and security concerns of passengers.

However, PNR number lasts minimum 9 month. This is because the TDR filed can take maximum of 9 months. Its is then removed from the database.