#IndianRailways: Now, you can find vacant train seats after chart-preparation
What's the story
The Indian Railways has introduced a new feature to ensure smooth and hassle-free train travel. The national transporter has started displaying reservation charts online to allow passengers to see the status of seats on a particular train. Passengers will be able to get information regarding vacant, partially-booked, and booked berths after the reservation chart is prepared at the click of a button. Here's more.
Details
Vacant seat information available on web and mobile platforms
The new feature will help travelers in accessing information about any unoccupied seats/berths that are available on a particular train after the preparation of the reservation chart. The information about vacant seats will be available on both web and mobile versions of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) e-ticket booking platform: through IRCTC's official website and the IRCTC Rail Connect mobile app.
Tweet
'Hassle-free train travel': Piyush Goyal on Twitter
Union Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal, earlier this week, tweeted about the new feature rolled out by the Indian Railways. He wrote, "Hassle-Free Train Travel: Passengers can now access information on vacant, booked and partially booked train berths after preparation of the reservation chart, at the click of a button."
Twitter Post
Here's what Railways Minister Goyal tweeted
Hassle-Free Train Travel: Passengers can now access information on vacant, booked and partially booked train berths after preparation of the reservation chart, at the click of a button.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) January 6, 2020
To check, visit: https://t.co/LpRtTDSHnt pic.twitter.com/W7KScvuzAz
Two charts
Now, two reservation charts will be prepared
Notably, the Indian Railways used to prepare the reservation chart four hours before the departure of a particular train until now. However, the national transporter will now prepare two reservation charts. While the first chart will remain the same (four hours before departure), the second one - which shows the changes in seat allocations - can be accessed online 30 minutes before the departure.
Information
Passengers need to provide train, journey details
To check the train reservation charts on the IRCTC platform, passengers need to provide three details: train number, journey date, and the boarding station. It will offer access to the layout of nine classes used in reserved trains; also, 120+ coach layouts have been included.
Procedure
How to check reservation charts on the IRCTC website?
To check reservation charts online, passengers can visit the IRCTC website and click on "Charts/Vacancy". They will be redirected to a new page where they should enter their journey details (train number, journey date, and boarding station) and click on "Get Train Chart". Next, they will be able to view the charts showing the number of vacant berths class-wise and coach-wise, including coach layouts.