Indian Railways Train Classes: A Complete Guide For People Who Want Comfort And Are On A Tight Budget

 Introduction

 If you are booking your Indian Train Ticket for  the first time or you have done it multiple times, there is a high chance that you might not know all the classes or all the meanings of the classes in the Indian railway. As there is no official website for it i decided to make one. So without any further delay let's know how to travel the better way.

 

The Ticket System 

I know what the tittle says and what we are discussing is different. But the ticket system will really help you to know how the whole thing works. First you need to know if your ticket is confirmed if so then you are going to get the best berth in that class. But if your ticket is in the status of RAC. In which case you have booked in either of these classes: 2AC , 3AC, SL. 2AC stands for 2 tier AC. 3AC stands for 3 tier AC. SL stands for sleeper. If you get the RAC status then it means that you have to share a berth with 2 people. The side lower berth. But there is still a chance of you getting a confirmed ticket. When a person with a confirmed ticket cancels their ticket, the person with RAC1 gets that berth and you move forward in the RAC list.

If you get the status of WL which stands for Waiting List then you don't get allotted a berth and have to wait until a person in the RAC status or in the confirmed status to cancel their ticket in order for you to make progression to the RAC status, from which you move to the confirmed status.

The Sleeper Class (SL)

This is the class which is the most popular amongst all classes and is in found in almost all of the trains except the Shatabdi. It is probably a class for people on a tight budget and also don't want to compromise comfort as a whole. Tourists use this class to get the experience of the "real India". It has six bunk beds (Three on either sides). With the middle one as a fold-able bunk for morning travel.

The 3rd Tier AC (3A)

This is the second cheapest of all the AC classes and is the exact same as the sleeper class but with fixed windows and air-conditioned compartments. It of course costs more than the sleeper class but you can sleep in an air-conditioned berth. Plus additionally they also give you a pillow and a washed blanket.

The 2nd Tier AC (2A) 

This is the second costliest AC class in the whole train. If you value your privacy but don't want to make the budget too high then this is the ideal class for you. It consists of 4 berths (2 on each side) and has screens for covering your compartment. Note: that this is not a class which is available in all the trains.

The 1st Tier AC (1A)

This is the costliest AC class in the Indian railways. It doesn't have an RAC status. And you have only 2 Beds and a sitting area. It also has a door which you can pull out. There is a neat set of stairs leading to the top berth. This is for the people who value comfort more than money. Note: this class is not available in every train

The AC Chair Sitting (CC)

This is the cheapest AC class in the whole Indian railways and is only available in the train types called Shatabdi. It is an morning train only contained of air-conditioned sitting. It has a seating arrangement similar to that of an airplane. Shatabdi is a special Indian train which connect metro cities in a higher speeds with lower stops.

Exec. Chair Car(EC)

It is almost the same as the CC class but the only difference is that every two seats it will be turned like so:

 It is also an air conditioned seat which is available only in the Shatabdi.

Second Sitting (2S)

This is the same as the CC but with a little bit less comfort and available in almost all the trains. So this a good choice for short journey trains and people who want to save money. Note: That this is not air-conditioned

Unreserved (UR)

Now this is the cheapest of all classes and you cannot book this class online as it does not include any reservation so you have to go straight to the station and by the ticket. There is no guarantee that you will be even able to sit as it is mostly too crowded and you might even be pushed to the extreme of standing the entire journey. It is in the case when you have to desperately go to that place in that train but don't have any reserved tickets.
So that is the end of it and now you know about all the classes. If you want to support my work then you can leave a comment down below.

 

Stay tuned as I will be posting my experience on going to Hyderabad next week.