Indian Railways Quotas

Quotas in Indian Railways

Indian Railway quota can be used to find seat availability in trains. Seat availability under railway quota could provide additional advantage for passengers willing to get reservation of seat/berth in trains. Details about different types of quotas in Indian Railway including general quota, ladies quota etc. Following are Indian Railway Quotas. A few important quotas entertained by the system are as under.

Categories of Reservation Quotas in Indian Railways

With a view to cater to requirements of different categories of passengers served by Indian Railways, available reserved accommodation is distributed broadly under the following types of reservation quotas:

While booking reserved tickets through the website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC), passengers can book tickets under General Quota, Ladies Quota, Foreign Tourist Quota, Premium Tatkal Quota, Tatkal Quota, Senior Citizen Quota, and Physically Handicapped (Divyangjan) Quota.

In addition to the above quotas, accommodation can also be allotted under Reservation Against Cancellation(RAC) and Pooled Quota while booking reserved tickets through website of IRCTC. These reservation quotas constitute approximately 94% of total reserved accommodation available on Indian Railways, which can be booked both through internet as well as through computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) of Indian Railways.

To avoid any misuse, this facility is generally not extended for those quotas which require prior physical verification of documents. However, recently this facility has been extended to persons with disability, Press correspondents and Defence Personnel. Extension of such facilities to different categories of passengers is a continuous and ongoing exercise.

Detailed Information about Quotas in Indian Railway

• General Quota
  • A railways reservation General quota (GN) can be defined as the total number of tickets that can be issued for travel from the originating station issued by booking offices of the originating and other nearby stations. Majority of these seats in a particular train are reserved for long distances.
• Head Quarters / High Official Quota
  • Railways reservation headquarters/high official Quota includes a small number of seats and berths set aside for the rail officials, VIPs, high bureaucrats, etc. The allotment is done on a first and first-served basis. The request for booking train tickets under such quota should be made in advance to the quota controlling authority.
• Defence Quota
  • Railways reservation Defense Quota can only be availed by the defence officials. The defence staff can book the tickets in any particular train in defence quota with the use of their ID cards.
• Parliament House Quota
  • Railways reservation Parliament house Quota represents the number of seats allotted to members of Parliament in order to meet their urgent travel requirements. It can be availed by Centre and State ministers, judges of Supreme of India, high court judges of various states and MLAs.
• Foreign Tourist Quota
  • Railways reservation Foreign Tourist Quota is a special number of seats or berths reserved for international tourists in almost all the important trains and in different classes.
• Duty Pass Quota
  • Railways reservation Duty pass quota is meant for railways staffs on duty. All those railway staffs that need to travel in trains to perform their duty have a duty pass through which they can board the trains. Further details are attached Duty Pass Quota in Trains.
• Tatkal Quota
  • Railways reservation Tatkal quota was introduced to help the passengers to book train tickets in different classes in case of emergencies. Except First Class AC and Executive Class, the Tatkal Booking are available to all class. Tatkal booking does not allow opting for Ladies and General Quota.
• Female(above 45 Year)/Senior Citizen/Travelling alone Quota (SS Quota)
  • Under Railways reservation Female (above 45 Year)/Senior Citizen/Travelling alone quota (SS Quota), lower berths are provided to those senior citizens and female above 45 years who are travelling alone. Special trains have been provided for those senior citizens who use a wheelchair.
• Physically Handicapped Quota
  • Railways reservation physically handicapped quota provides various additional facilities to the passengers who are physically challenged. They are provided with different reservation counters at the railway reservation centres. Two sleeper class berths are been allotted in all the trains for those who are travelling on the handicapped concessional ticket.
• Railway Employee Staff on Duty for the train Quota
  • Railways reservation Employee Staff on Duty for the train is the quota, for employees of railways, which facilitates its employees by providing exclusive journey passes.
• General Quota Road Side
  • This is also termed as remote location quota. Railways reservation General Road Side Quota (GNRS) describes of those railway stations that are still not connected to Passenger Reservation System. PRS maintains the database of reservation and many stations, not being connected to PRS maintain the records manually.
• Out Station Quota
  • Railways reservation Out Station Quota is being operated even after the provision of a computerized PRS facility. Outstation quota may be immediately withdrawn and merged with the database of the nearest remote location having no PRS. This quota requires a confirmation from zonal Railways. This quota is also a general quota but can not be booked online.
• Pooled Quota
  • Railway reservation Pooled Quota(PQ) consists of a small number of berths. This quota is been charted at the starting station of the train. A traveller seeking reservation from the starting station is been allotted the reservation under this quota. There is no provision of Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) in pooled Quota. Only confirmed tickets are issued for passengers travelling under the head of this Pooled Quota of Indian Railway.
• Reservation Against Cancellation Quota
  • Railway reservation Against Cancellation(RAC) is the quota of Indian railways which accommodates two passengers on a berth. A traveller bearing a RAC ticket can travel in the respective train but a person in the waiting list is not allowed to do so. Generally, tickets issued under RAC quota get confirmed after passing of some stations or could also become confirmed tickets in case of cancellation of confirmed or RAC tickets. The holder of RAC ticket remains after the cancellation of tickets by other passengers enjoy full berth for the rest of the journey.
• Road Side Quota
  • Smaller intermediate stations that do not participate in the networked computerized reservation system issue tickets from specific quotas, known as Road Side Quotas (‘RS’).
• Yuva Quota
  • Railways Yuva reservation quota provides the facility of the reservation to the unemployed travellers, aged between 15-45 years, certified by the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NAREGA). The tickets for the Yuva quota could be reserved on the general reservation counters. The certificate is mandatory for concessions.
• Lower Berth Quota
  • Railways reservation Lower Berth Quota is reserved for a lady who is above 45 years and travelling alone, for a senior citizen, and for a pregnant lady. Details are here. Lower Berth Quota in Trains