Facts concerning Indian Railway Reservation Seat Availability

You have a lot of options as far as the seating arrangement is concerned with Indian Railways. Allocation of seats will be looked in detail segment wise.

You can either book tickets through travel agents or have them booked online. The online booking website is http://www.irctc.co.in, purely a Government based website. You can make your bookings online at least 3 months before the commencement of your onward journey. The major advantage of prior bookings is that can can get a berth of your choice without much of a trouble. For example, if you are travelling with an infant, you may feel convenient with a lower berth. You may need to feed your baby from time to time. An elderly person who is not able to climb an upper most berth may prefer a middle berth. A lot of examples are evident for you to get a berth of your choice.

Indian Railway Seat Reservation Availability is done in a chronological way.

A/C Sleeper Coach

A/C Sleeper car generally is categorized into three segments a) General A/C b) A/C with two tier and c) A/C with three tiers. Two tiers is two steps on the ladder to reach the top berth in the coach. Three tiers implies three steps on the ladder to reach the top most berth. A1, B1, and B2 are the commonly denoted coaches.

Sleeper Car

The sleeper car coaches are nothing but reservation coaches. You don’t have the comfort of travelling in A/C. Sleeper car are Economy Coaches or Second Class Reservation Coaches. Sleeper car is denoted by S1. S1 is the first compartment in the row. You can find S1, S2, S3, S4 ending S13.

To locate the coach on Sleeper class is little difficult as you have to walk your way through the entire platform. If you have a heavy luggage and infants to carry, the chaos is doubled. You need to find your compartment and seat number on time before the train leaves. It is just ideal that you reach the railway station atleast 2 hours before the journey begins. You can refresh yourself by having a breakfast/ lunch / dinner from the refreshment center at the railway cafeteria. You can go to the rest-room and be ready waiting on the platform to catch the train. You not only have to locate your compartment which is a tedious affair but you also need to locate your corresponding seating number where you need to travel. You cannot afford to push the other person in the excitement of locating your berth numbers.

Un-Reserved Coaches

You have a set of 4 coaches as U/R i.e Un-Reserved Coaches. Those of you who cannot afford to book a compartment through Sleeper Car or if you want to urgently book for a ticket and had not made the reservation in advance, you can then go in for the U/R option. The railway tickets are priced at the bare minimum in U/R coaches. You are not guaranteed of a berth and if you end up getting a seat it is purely on a first cum first served basis.