Train Seat Availability: Is There a Window Seat Vacant on a Running Train? Find Out the Complete Process from Your Mobile with This IRCTC Feature!

Train Seat Availability: Often, even with a reserved train ticket, we don’t get our preferred seat. You might feel disappointed with an upper berth or a middle seat, especially when you wish to enjoy the scenic beauty from a window seat. At other times, emergency situations might force you to board a train without a ticket. In all these scenarios, knowing which seats are vacant on a running train can make your journey much smoother. With a special feature from IRCTC, you can easily find this information using your mobile or laptop.

How to Find Vacant Seats?

To access this facility provided by Indian Railways, you need to visit the official IRCTC website for ticket booking. Following a few simple steps will give you all the necessary information.

• First, go to the IRCTC website’s homepage. At the top, you will see two options: “PNR Status” and “Charts / Vacancy”.
• From these, click on the “Charts / Vacancy” option.
• A new page will open where you need to enter your journey details. Accurately fill in your train name or number, Journey Date, and Boarding Station.
• After providing all the information, click on the “Get Train Chart” option.

How to Understand the Reservation Chart?

Upon clicking “Get Train Chart,” the complete reservation chart for that train will be displayed. Here, you can see a list of various coaches like AC and Sleeper, along with the number of vacant seats in each coach. Clicking on any coach will show a seat layout, which is color-coded for easy understanding.

• Ash Colour: Seats marked in this colour are booked for the entire journey (Occupied for Full Journey). This means the passenger will travel from the train’s origin to its final destination.
• Yellow Colour: These seats are booked for a part of the journey (Part Journey). This indicates that a passenger will board from an intermediate station and deboard at another intermediate station, leaving the seat vacant for the remaining part of the route.
• Green Colour: These seats are completely vacant (Vacant) and have not been booked yet.

Practical Application of This Information

Let’s say your assigned seat is a side upper, but you want a window seat. You can check the chart to see if any green-coloured lower berth is available. If you find one, you can easily move to that seat.

Similarly, you can take advantage of the yellow-coloured seats. For instance, if a seat is booked from Sealdah to Falakata but shows as vacant from Falakata to New Alipurduar, you can occupy that seat after the train crosses Falakata.

Onboard Booking Facility

Sometimes, even if a seat is shown as vacant on the chart, it cannot be booked online. These seats are often marked with the note “TTE on train can book”. This means that only the on-duty TTE (Travelling Ticket Examiner) can allot these seats. If you don’t have a ticket or wish to change your seat, you can occupy such a vacant seat and speak to the TTE to get a ticket made by paying the required fare. This allows you to travel legally without any penalty.