Those days were gone when visiting the railway station booking office was necessary to know about the reservation status of the tickets. Earlier whenever a traveler used to get waiting tickets, he has to go to railway reservation counter to know about any updates in the reservation. But now due to technical advancement, knowing about the PNR status is just on click. At home, office, or on the go a person with internet connection and any smart devices like computer, tablet or smartphone can check the reservation status easily.
How PNR concept works?
PNR is acronym for Passenger Name Record. This is a record of an individual passenger which exist in the database of computer reservation system that has the itinerary of a traveler, or a group of travelers traveling together. Initially this concept was used by airline industry to exchange reservation information in case of traveler needed flights of multiple airlines in order to arrive their desired destination. This is the most convenient and simplest way to track the information each and every passenger traveling through particular flight. PNR Number remains unchanged during the journey and cannot be modified or changed until end of your journey.
As the idea of PNR become successful in the airline industry, the railway industry embraced it too. Now IRCTC and Indian Railway offer PNR no. to all the tickets booked by them in order to make the PNR Status checking easier. If we talk about Indian Railways or IRCTC, it is a 10 unique ten digit number assigned to every single ticket purchased through IRCTC Website or reservation counter. You can find this number on the top left corner of your railway ticket.
Why do I need PNR Number?
If you prefer train as a medium of traveling in India then sooner or later you have to deal with waiting list ticket. In that case, prior to the traveling you need to know whether your ticket PNR Status is confirmed or not using the assigned PNR no. You can do it through SMS, phone call, online, and mobile app. It is advisable to write and save your PNR number at a safer place, as it's going to prove beneficial in case you lost your ticket. During the journey showing the PNR number to the TTE (Traveling ticket Examiner) is sufficient enough. The TTE simply checks the PNR number in the reservation chart and when the match is found with the details, passengers are allotted the seat.
What does a PNR Number provide?
This unique identification number is generated for each and every booked ticket whether it's confirm or not. It Provides arrival and departure time, date of journey, current status (whether confirmed or in waiting list), seat number and bogie, gender and so on.
How to enquire PNR status?
Usually there are not many but quite few ways by means of which passengers can check PNR status of his/her ticket within span of time. Below, I am going to demonstrate few most suitable methods that will assist you in order to know your current reservation status.
Check PNR Status Online
This is probably most convenient method among all. All you have to do is, visit Online PNR Status, there go to the 'PNR section'. In the that section you need to insert the 10-digit PNR number and finally click on 'Go' button. The updated ticket status will be displayed on your screen. Passengers from multiple railway zones incorporating central, western, southern, and northern can check the status of their reserved ticket with the help of this web portal.
Official Websites for PNR and Train Enquiry:
o http://www.indianrail.gov.in/
o https://www.irctc.co.in/
Check Railway PNR Status through SMS
This is the most simple and convenient way of getting the PNR status even though if you don't have any internet connection along with you. A message stating the PNR number to any of the prescribed number can help you to track the updated status of your reservation. The prescribed numbers are: 57886, 5676747, 5459, 139. To any of these number 'PNR space (10-digit number)' has to be sent. For example: SMS 'PNR 1152361387' to 139.
PNR Enquiry by Phone calls
To inquire about your current reservation simply dial 139 from your fixed phone or smartphone and follow the instruction given by the IVR system. When asked for PNR no. provide it and you will get to know you status.
Train PNR Enquiry through Mobile Apps
These days, smartphones are dominating our lives and most of the things is done through mobile apps, so checking ticket status through app is not a big deal. You'll find several apps that allow you to check reservation Status through your Smartphone only. These applications are available for Windows, Android and iOS OS (Operating System) platform. You just need to download and install the app from the respective online store like Windows Apps, Google play and Apple iTunes and get the PNR status from anywhere. Below i have mentioned few best suited app compatibles with your device, I hope that prove beneficial for you.
Android App
Indian railway app is compatible with all android devices available in the market. You can check the reservation status, Seat Availability, train timing, fare and other useful information using this app. To download it for your android smartphone simply visit Google Play.
iPhone App
Indian railway app is fully compatible with devices running on iOS version 5.1 or later. It is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can get it from Apple iTunes.
Windows App
IRCTC official windows app offer online ticket booking and several other services like checking PNR status, train time schedule, train routes, booking and recent history, seat availability and others. You can download it from windows app store.
Ticket Enquiry on Reservation Counter
The people who do not prefer online check; can check the status in the traditional way. Just visit your localized railway station there you'll find number of digital machines placed around the ticket reservation counter which let you enquire booking status within few seconds. This is the most authentic one but may surround by huge crowd which will consume lot of your time and energy.
Indian Railway Ticket Status Explained
Checking reservation status has become so simple mainly because of the introduction of numerous online portals but still some people get stuck as they don't understand the many abbreviated term present in the ticket. There are generous bunch of people who examine the current PNR status of their ticket with the help of allocated PNR number but fail to understand what it's trying to say. Some abbreviations mentioned below will let you understand the reservation status of your respective railway ticket.
CAN/MOD: Ticket Cancelled or Modified by Passenger.
RAC: Reservation Against Cancellation.
CNF: Confirmed.
WL: Waiting List.
CK: Tatkal Quota.
CKWL: Tatkal Waiting List.
PQWL: Pooled Quota Waiting List.
GNWL: General Waiting List.
REGRET/WL: No More Booking Allowed/Permitted.
RLWL: Remote Location Waiting List.