Train Ticket Booking: Booking confirmed tickets during festivals can be quite a challenge. For instance, during celebrations like Diwali and Chhath, travelers heading to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand often struggle to secure confirmed tickets. The situation is made worse by the uncertainty surrounding ticket confirmations. The routes leading to Bihar are particularly crowded, intensifying the difficulty of obtaining confirmed tickets. During festive seasons, train waiting lists can soar to as high as 500.
Predicting the chances of getting a confirmed ticket during festivals is tough due to the extensive waiting lists. While current ticket booking platforms and apps offer estimates for confirmation probabilities, these figures can frequently be misleading.
Understanding the confirmation chances based on waiting periods
The Railways has introduced a formula to assess the likelihood of a waitlisted ticket being confirmed. This can assist you in gauging the waiting list length for a confirmed ticket. To clarify, on average, about 21 percent of passengers cancel their bookings after purchasing tickets. This opens up seats for those on the waitlist. Additionally, around 4 to 5 percent of passengers book tickets but fail to board the train, which also frees up seats for waitlisted travelers.
Moreover, the Railways has an emergency quota that reserves certain seats. If this quota isn’t fully used, the available seats can be assigned to passengers on the waiting list.
How many seats can be confirmed in a coach?
Sleeper coaches typically have 72 seats. With 21 percent of passengers canceling their tickets and 4-5 percent not traveling, this could potentially add around 18 confirmed seats per coach. Therefore, if we consider 10 sleeper coaches, that would mean 10 coaches x 18 seats, resulting in 180 seats available for the sleeper class waiting list. This same calculation can be applied to 3AC and 2AC coaches as well.
However, ticket cancellations and non-traveling rates are lower during festivals. Most people travel during Diwali and Chhath. Therefore, the chances of waiting tickets getting confirmed are quite low.
How to increase the chances of getting a waiting list ticket confirmed?
To avoid waiting tickets, you should book your tickets early. Ticket booking opens 60 days before the travel date. Therefore, you should book your tickets 60 days in advance. This gives you a 99% chance of getting a confirmed ticket. However, during festivals, you must book within 15 minutes. Booking for regular tickets starts at 8 am. If possible, choose less busy routes instead of busy ones. Keep your travel dates flexible so you can book tickets on different days and get confirmed tickets.