Waitlisted passengers on a partially confirmed IRCTC or counter ticket can travel together: Report

However, such passengers will need to adjust and share seats with the confirmed ones during the journey, as they may not get personal seats if all coaches are fully occupied.

Why is this important?

Since the beginning of the current month, several reports on a new Indian Railways' rule have stated that passengers with waitlisted tickets are not allowed to board reserved coaches starting May 1, 2025, and may only travel in general (unreserved) coaches. However, these reports created confusion among passengers holding partially confirmed tickets.

While the new rule applies to fully waitlisted tickets, it does not apply to partially confirmed ones.

The Indian Railways allows booking seats for up to six passengers on a single PNR through IRCTC or railway ticket booking counters. Family members and friends generally book their train seats on a single PNR to travel together. Very often, a few seats on a single PNR are unconfirmed at the time of chart preparation. For instance, three seats may be confirmed while one seat on the chart shows waitlisted status. Or, three seats are confirmed, and the remaining three seats are waitlisted.

What's the rule for fully waitlisted tickets?

In case your ticket is not confirmed till the time of chart preparation, you will not be allowed to board reserved coaches. According to ETNow.in, this rule is effective from May 1, 2025. Such passengers can travel only in general (unreserved coaches).

The above rule applies in all cases, irrespective of whether you have booked your ticket online through IRCTC or from railway ticket counters.

Earlier, passengers having waitlisted tickets booked through railway ticket counters were allowed to board reserved coaches, while passengers who booked such tickets online via IRCTC were not allowed.