IRCTC Reservation Chart - Vacant Berth Details
IRCTC Online Charts
The Indian Railways has now started displaying the reserved charts online. Hence, it eliminates the hassle of passengers pleading the TTE for the availability of vacant berths on a particular coach. It won’t be the scenario anymore!
If you have ever traveled by train, then you would have seen people in stations busy checking the train reservation chart to know the confirmed status. The reservation charts are generally pasted on each coach of the train beside the doorways. The charts are also pasted on the boards on railway platforms.
As part of the Green Initiative, the Indian Railways have decided to abolish the physical charts and now focus on e-initiatives. Passengers can also check for the train reservation chart online on the IRCTC website. The IRCTC reservation charts offer a complete visual picture of the train layout, berth status, occupancy and more. They are sending the reservation details of the passengers through SMS at the time of charting. Besides, there is an IVRS service, wherein the passengers can check the real-time status of their tickets by dialing the helpline number 139. The IRCTC chart vacancy displays the comprehensive layout and the list of vacant berths present on a train.
Status of Train Chart Preparation
Chart Prepared:
When the train chart status is “Chart prepared”, it indicates the final list of passengers to board the train.
Chart not prepared
When the charting status is “Chart not prepared”, then it indicates, there are chances of changes in the waitlisted tickets.
What is Train Reservation Chart and What Does It Contain?
The railway chart features the confirmed list of passengers along with their seat/berth number and also coach number. One can easily find the relevant chart of their boarding train by looking for the right train numbers. For the convenience of the passengers, the train numbers are highlighted in bold and can be viewed from a distance. In general, the passengers go through the complete list of charts to check for their confirmation status before boarding the train.
How Can I Check the Online Chart on IRCTC?
For ease of passenger convenience, Indian Railways has made available the railway charts online on IRCTC Website. The new feature allows passengers to check for the vacant berth status on running trains after the chart preparation. Follow our step by step procedure to check the train chart online.
Log onto the IRCTC website with your credentials. You can find charts/vacancy options at the bottom of the page. Click on it and you would be redirected to a new page.
Enter the complete details in the available options such as the train number, journey data, boarding station. Then click the Get Train Chart option.
You can then view the reservation chart. Click on the relevant coach and class to check for the train seat chart.
By clicking on the specific berth number, you would also get to know the details of berth occupancy(full journey or partly occupied).
The berths are represented in various colours indicating their status. For instance, the available berths are highlighted in green and the partially occupied berths are highlighted in yellow colour.
Train Reservation Chart Preparation
The railway chart preparation time 2020 is usually four hours prior to the scheduled departure of the train. There would also be second and final charts prepared before 30 minutes of the departure of the train. The passengers can accordingly make reservations to the vacant seats if available, either online or at railway reservation counters. The final chart preparation time varies for morning trains, evening trains, and midnight trains.
Morning trains:
For trains that are scheduled to depart from 12 am in the midnight to 11 am in the morning, the charting is usually done at 8.00 PM on the previous day.
Evening trains:
Train charting is done 3-4hours prior to the scheduled departure.
Mid-night trains:
For mid-night trains, the IRCTC chart preparation is usually done before the closing time of the previous day, i.e., 8.00 PM
Current Reservation
Then there is a current reservation facility, wherein the passengers can book the tickets on the day of travel a few hours before the train departure. If there are any vacant seats available even after the preparation of the final chart, then the railways open them for booking under current availability. The facility accommodates passengers in vacant berths that arise due to last-minute cancellations after charting.
Green Initiative by Indian Railways
The passengers with waitlist and RAC passengers eagerly surf through the charts to know about their reservation status. Once confirmed, you can see them emerge with a beaming smile and convey the same to their near and dear ones. All that anxiety vanishes within no time! But offline reservation charts are a thing of the past! From March 2018, the Indian Railways have now decided to go paperless as part of the Green Initiative. As such the railways discontinued pasting charts on reserved compartments of all trains on all A1, A and B category stations.