GNWL
General waiting list
You are boarding at the train's starting station, so you draw from the largest pool of seats.
Best odds of the waiting-list types.
Plain language
Know your codes
Waiting lists, berth quotas, alternate trains, refund windows and filing deadlines — the whole railway vocabulary, decoded once so you never have to search for it mid-booking.
Waiting-list codes
RLWL
Remote location waiting list
You board at an intermediate station. Seats free up only when someone travelling through that stretch cancels.
Moderate to low odds.
PQWL
Pooled quota waiting list
A short hop that shares one small pooled quota with several other stations along the route.
Low odds.
TQWL
Tatkal waiting list
Tatkal seats confirm only if someone holding a confirmed Tatkal ticket cancels, which is rare.
Very low odds.
RAC
Reservation against cancellation
You may board and you get a shared side-lower berth. Most RAC tickets become a full berth when the chart is prepared.
High odds of a full berth.
The lower-berth rule nobody tells you
Sleeper coaches hold back six to seven lower berths, and air-conditioned classes three to five, for men aged 60 and above, women aged 45 and above, and pregnant travellers.
The catch: the allotment engine skips that reserved pool entirely if a single ticket carries more than two eligible passengers, or mixes an eligible passenger with a younger one. The whole group then falls into the general pool. RailSetu warns you about this on the passenger screen — before you pay, not after berths are handed out.
Vikalp — the alternate train option
- Opting in only makes you *eligible* for a confirmed berth on another train on the same route. It is never a guarantee.
- There is no extra charge and no refund of the difference either way — you pay exactly what you paid today.
- You could be moved to a train departing up to 12 hours later, from a nearby station of the same city.
- You find out at chart preparation. Until then your original waiting-list position keeps moving normally.
- If you are not moved, your original ticket stands exactly as it is.
Cancellation windows
| When you cancel | Deduction | You get |
|---|---|---|
| More than 48 hours before departure | Flat fee ₹60–₹240 by class + tax | Almost everything back |
| 48 to 12 hours before departure | 25% of the fare | 75% back |
| 12 to 4 hours before departure | 50% of the fare | 50% back |
| Under 4 hours / after charting | 100% of the fare | Nothing back |
| Confirmed Tatkal ticket | 100% of the fare | Nothing back, at any time |
Deposit receipt deadlines
- Train late by more than 3 hours
- File before the train departs from your boarding station.
- RAC or waiting-list ticket not travelled
- File up to 30 minutes before departure.
- Train cancelled by the railway
- File within 72 hours of the scheduled departure.
- Train diverted / travel not completed
- File within 72 hours of arrival.
- How long the money takes
- Deposit-receipt refunds are audited by the zonal railway by hand and commonly take 60 days or more. Cancelling in time is always faster.
Our booking pledge
- Nothing is ever added to your cart for you — insurance, meals and bedrolls all start switched off.
- The full fare, including every fee and tax, is on screen from the first step. No surprise at checkout.
- No pop-ups, no app-install nags, no promotional interruptions inside the booking flow.
- Your session is never cut short mid-booking; your details stay on this device until you submit.
- The train, class and berth you confirm is the one you pay for. No swaps.