Now, view vacant berths and rail reservations online

With reservation charts no longer pasted on trains, a new feature on railways portal is expected to provide a huge relief to passengers.
Image used for representational purpose only (File | PTI)
Image used for representational purpose only (File | PTI)

CHENNAI : Nearly a year after doing away with the practice of pasting reservation charts on trains, the Indian Railways has upgraded the IRCTC portal enabling passengers to view reservation charts online.
The additional provision incorporated in the website and mobile version of the IRCTC will allow passengers to view their seat position of all trains across the country.

However, they will not be able to view their names. In addition, the portal has also been provided with an additional feature that can enable passengers to view class-wise and coach-wise vacant berths in all trains after preparation of the first and second charts.

Initially, the additional facility was proposed to be introduced on premier trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Expresses. However, the Centre of Railway Information System (CRIS), an IT support wing of the IRCTC, made the provision available for all passenger trains across with effect from Friday. Given that reservation charts are no longer pasted on trains, the upgraded website is expected to provide a huge relief to passengers to confirm their seat position. Besides, last-minute travellers will no longer have to rely on TTE or travel agent to get confirmed tickets. 

According to highly placed IRCTC sources, two additional features - ‘PNR status’ and ‘Charts/Vacancy’ - incorporated into the portal, will start functioning after preparation of the first chart. “To view the seat position, a passenger has to click on PNR status in the home page, which will lead to a new page, where they have to key in the PNR number. After getting the seat position, (for example D4, 18 in Vaigai Express), the passenger has to click on chart which will show the seat layout of the coach,” said a senior official of the IRCTC. 

Similarly, to view the vacant berths, passengers have to click on Charts/Vacancy option which will take them to a new page where they have to mention the train number and destination. “Coach-wise and class-wise vacant berths will be displayed with seating layout. The coach layout will appear in different colours to show the seats that are booked, vacant and partially booked,” explained the official. 

However, the official added passengers will not be able to choose the berth of their choice before booking tickets. “Such a facility is being worked out. As of now, passengers can only view vacant berths in one page and book tickets in another page,” said the official. 

Select local trains cancelled for 10 days

To facilitate maintenance works, the Southern Railway cancelled select services in the Chennai Beach and Tambaram section for 10 days (March 25 to April 5) except on Mondays. The local train to Tambaram, scheduled to leave Chennai Beach at 8.28 pm, 9.30 pm, 11.05 pm, 11.30 pm and 11.59 pm, will be cancelled fully. Similarly, the Tambaram- Chennai Beach train scheduled to leave Tambaram at 10.25 pm and 10.45 pm will not be operated. 

Short-termination 
The Chengalpattu-Chennai Beach train, which departs from Chengalpattu at 10.15 pm, will run upto Tambaram.  The Tambaram-Chennai Beach, which departs from Tambaram at 10.30 pm, will be short-terminated at Park Station. The Chengalpattu-Chennai Beach train, which leaves Chengalpattu at 11.10 pm, will run upto Chennai Egmore, said a statement.

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