IRCTC: Now Book Train Seats Effortlessly From Home With Railway’s New Feature; Here’s How To Check Vacant Train Seats Online

IRCTC, has introduced a new feature that simplifies the seat booking process by displaying seating layouts in a user-friendly manner. This innovative system categorizes seats using different colors to indicate their status - booked, vacant, or partially booked.

Travel enthusiasts often find themselves in a frenzy when it comes to securing train seat availability for their upcoming journeys. The key to avoiding the last-minute rush and ensuring a smooth travel experience is to book your tickets well in advance. However, this option is viable only if you have solidified your travel plans. Unfortunately, many travelers face uncertainties and find it challenging to commit to a fixed schedule. This predicament leads to the common dilemma of not being able to secure a preferred seat on the train.

In a bid to address this persistent issue, IRCTC has introduced a groundbreaking solution that promises to revolutionize the way passengers book their train seats. With each coach accommodating approximately 110 seats, travelers have a variety of seating options to choose from. The sleeper coach seats are categorized into five types, including the lower berth, second middle berth, third upper berth, fourth side lower berth, and fifth side upper berth.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Online Seat Booking

When booking your train ticket, you will encounter a seat preference option that allows you to select your desired seat. However, securing your favorite spot depends upon the availability of vacant seats on the train. To streamline the booking process, travelers can leverage the IRCTC Indian Railways Catering and Tourism App, which facilitates ticket reservations and provides essential travel information.

To initiate the booking process, users are required to register on the official IRCTC website before proceeding with the subsequent steps.

The booking process entails visiting the website or logging into the app, selecting the ‘Book Your Ticket’ option, specifying the boarding and destination addresses, choosing the travel date, selecting the preferred class, and picking the desired train.

Subsequently, users must click on ‘Book Now,’ furnish passenger details, provide a mobile number and Captcha Code, and proceed with the payment via credit card, debit card, net banking, UPI, or other online modes.

Upon completion of these steps, a confirmation message containing the ticket details will be sent to the registered mobile number and email ID.

Check Train Seat Availability Online

Indian Railways’ website, IRCTC, has introduced a new feature that simplifies the seat booking process by displaying seating layouts in a user-friendly manner. This innovative system categorizes seats using different colors to indicate their status – booked, vacant, or partially booked. With over 120 unique coach layouts incorporated, passengers can now easily visualize the seating arrangement across nine classes available on reserved trains.

The system provides detailed information on class-wise and coach-wise vacant berths based on the first chart of the train, which is prepared four hours before departure. Additionally, if a second chart is generated, passengers can access real-time data on available berths shortly before the train’s scheduled departure, as the second chart is prepared approximately 30 minutes prior to the journey.

To check train seat availability, follow the steps mentioned below;

• On the IRCTC website, a new option of view ‘Charts/Vacancy’ is available.
• You need to provide journey details, such as train number, journey date and boarding station.
• Click on Get Train Chart now. This will bring up the Reservation Chart with the details of vacant seats.
• After that the class-wise and coach-wise number of vacant berths can be seen.
• You can also click on a specific coach to see the layout along with berth-wise accommodation status.

Steps to find vacant seats on a train using the IRCTC app

• On the mobile phone, you can use the official IRCTC app. It is present on both Android and iOS app stores. Once it is downloaded and installed, you can follow the below steps to book a vacant seat for yourself.
• Tap on the Train icon.
• Click on Chart Vacancy. This opens the Reservation Chart page on the mobile web browser.
• Enter the journey details like the Train Name/Number as well as the Boarding Station.
• You will see the available vacant berths along with the number of vacant screens on the screen. However, if the details can be shared by a TTE only, it will be mentioned.
• Also, you need not log in to the IRCTC app to get all these details. So, no IRCTC account is required to find vacant seats on the IRCTC app.