IRCTC's Waiting List Ticket

When there are no more reserved seats available for booking, a Waiting List Ticket (WL) is issued. Indian Railways has different quotas for each running train, with each quota having a fixed number of reserved seats in various classes.

If the passenger's status is still waitlisted after the chart is prepared, the passenger will not be assigned to a berth. If all of the passengers on an e-ticket are waitlisted after final chart preparation, the ticket is automatically cancelled and the money is refunded to the user's account within 3-7 business days. Passengers should not board the train in this case. If at least one passenger on the same ticket has RAC Status or Confirm Status while other passengers on the same ticket have waiting list status, the e-ticket will NOT get automatically cancelled, hence the passengers will be allowed to board the train. And, if the passenger had booked the ticket through the reservation window at the railway station, he/she will have to cancel the ticket from the reservation window.

Types of Waiting List Tickets

(Note:  The allotment of waiting tickets depends on the starting and destination stations of your journey.)

GNWL - General Waiting List

GNWL is the most common waiting list, and tickets in GNWL are allotted when a passenger begins his/her journey from the train's originating station or near the originating station. Tickets on the GNWL waiting list have the best chance of getting confirmed because the majority of seats on the train are reserved to be booked from the source station and thus receive the most cancellations.

(For example: If a train runs between Point A to Point Z, and you have booked the ticket from Point A/B to Point Z, you will get the ticket with GNWL status.)

RLWL - Remote Location Waiting List

RLGN is an abbreviation for RLWL. Under the remote location waiting list, which is also known as the RLWL category of Indian Railways, train tickets are issued to railway passengers for intermediate railway stations (that means between the originating station and the terminating station). The tickets are marked as RLGN after booking seats under the RLWL quota.

(For example: If a train runs between Point A to Point Z, and you have booked the ticket from Point E to Point P, you will get the ticket with RLWL status. Whereas Point E is a famous or big station.)

PQWL - Pooled Quota Waiting List

PQWL is allotted if a passenger begins his or her journey at the source station or another intermediate station of the train but ends it at some intermediate station before the destination station of the train. There is only one Pooled Quota for the entire run of the train, which is shared by all small en-route stations, so there are very few chances of confirmation.

(For example: If a train runs between Point A to Point Z, and you have booked the ticket from Point I  to Point T, you will get the ticket with PQWL status.)

RSWL - Roadside Station Waiting List

RSWL is assigned when the originating station books berths or seats for journeys up to the roadside station only up to the extent of accommodation earmarked for that Road Side quota. Distance restrictions do not apply in such cases when booking. This waiting list has even fewer chances of being confirmed.

(For example: If a train runs between Point A to Point Z, and you have booked the ticket from Point E to Point P, you will most likely get the ticket with RSWL status.)

RQWL - Request Waiting List

When a ticket is booked from one intermediate station to another intermediate station and it is not covered by any of the general, remote locations, or pooled quota waiting list tickets, then RQWL ticket is allotted. An RLWL ticket may be confirmed only if a confirmed ticket for a passenger travelling from the originating station to that intermediate station is cancelled.

(For example: If a train runs between Point A to Point Z, and you have booked the ticket from Point G to Point S, you will most likely get the ticket with RSWL status.)

TQWL (formerly CKWL) - Tatkal Waiting List

TQWL is assigned when a ticket is purchased through the Tatkal Scheme and all seats designated for tatkal booking are filled. Unlike other quotas, Tatkal tickets are directly confirmed and do not go through RAC status. Because the general waiting list (GNWL) is preferred over the tatkal waiting list (TQWL) during chart preparation, tatkal waitlisted tickets are less likely to be confirmed.

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