Indian Railways - Travel Coach types and their seating / berths

Indian Railways - Travel Coach types and their seating / berths

Classes

Coach Designations

Recent changes to class of travel,
*AS-1 to B-1 (for AC three-tier)
*SL-1 to D-1 (second class sitting)
*EC-1 to E-1 (executive class)
*GC-1 to J-1 (Garib Rath Chair Car).

As per railway sources, there will be no change in the abbreviations of other classes.

* Sleeper coaches' designations are unchanged: S-1, S-2, etc. * 1st AC coaches' designations are unchanged: H-1, H-2, etc. * AC 2-tier coaches' designations are unchanged: A-1, A-2, etc. * First class coaches' designations unchanged: FC or F. * AC Chair Car coaches' designations unchanged: C-1, C-2, etc. * B-1, B-2, etc. : AC 3-tier (formerly AS-1, etc.) * D-1, etc. : Second-class sitting (formerly S-1, or SC-1, etc.) * E-1, etc. : Executive class (formerly EC-1, etc.). * J-1, etc. : Garib Rath chair car (formerly GC-1, etc.) * Garib Rath AC 3-tier coaches' designation is unchanged (G-1, etc.).

Accommodation Types

*Berths
*

The following class-accommodation combinations are created for by the system:

I AC. Berths for night and seats for day. Both berths and seats are considered identical with respect to fare and accommodations. AC 2-tier sleeper. Berths for night and seats for day are considered identical with respect to fare. The extent of accommodation for night journey and day journey (that is, sitting and sleeping accommodation) generally remains same. I Class. Berths and seats are considered identical with respect to fare but during the day, number of seats are greater than the number of berths during the night.
*AC 3-Tier
*AC chair car
*Sleeper class berths
*II Class sitting (Day coaches )

The Berths are sub-classified into,

*LB = Lower Berth
*MB = Middle Berth
*UB = Upper Berth
*SLB = Side Lower Berth
*SUB = Side Upper Berth

This is for the Broad Gauge (BG) trains, Metre Gauge (MG) wouldn't have the side berths (SLB & SUB). Indian Rail is mostly BG and MG is almost phased out, with the few remaining ones undergoing BG conversion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_India

But the only exception that would remain in existence, would be the narrow gauge rails, the two of the existing operational ones in India, which have been listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO , are,

#http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_Himalayan_Railway
#http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgiri_Mountain_Railway

All Classes of Indian Railways

http://www.seat61.com/India.htm#classes

Broad Gauge (BG) - Berths Layout

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/4825/size/big/sort/1/cat/500

In the above BG Berths layout, the seats numbered as 1, 4, 9, 12, 17, 20, 25, 28, 33, 36, 41, 44, 49, 52, 57, 60, 65 and 68 are in actuals are all window seats (lower berths for overnight journeys)

Broad Gauge (BG) - Seating Layout

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/4826/size/big/sort/1/cat/500

BG - Berths/Seats Mapping

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/4827/size/big/sort/1/cat/500

Metre Gauge (MG) - Seating Layout

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/4828/size/big/sort/1/cat/500

MG - Berths/Seats Mapping

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/4829/size/big/sort/1/cat/500

Taking in to consideration BG line trains, normally it would be 72 seats / berth for 3 tier coaches (3A / SL) with the coaches having four entrances two each on either sides of the coach at their ends. These coaches would display the seat / berth numbers painted just above each of their windows that would be in alignment to that particular window. So based on it, its easier to choose the right entrance closest to reach your seat /berth hassle free.

"(Its depends though. If you have done an advanced reservation for the seats/berth in a particular coach, its fine that, as long as you board the train and be in the coach, since the seats or the berths won't go away anywhere. They would be on the move along with you, waiting for you to occupy them. Even if you board the wrong coach at the last minute of the trains departure, the seats / berths would wait even then, all you have to do is to walk thro' the connecting vestibule to reach your designated coach and seat / berth. Since, similar coaches type will all be inter-connected mostly. The exception being, the 'reserved and unreserved' or 'air conditioned and non-air conditioned' coaches, which would have their roller shutter downed at this connecting passage to prevent misuse of service)"

Note: Higher classes would have reduction in their seating / berth capacity, based on their class respectively. (CC / ECC / 1A / FC / 2A)

The Second Sitting would have 108 seats but with two additional entrances right in the middle of the coaches on their either sides. So, its 6 entrances on the whole for each of this coach type. They too would have seating number displayed in paint above each window of the coach, that are in alignment taking the cross section of the coach.

Related Interesting Links

*http://www.irfca.org
* [http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ Indian Railways - Online Passenger Reservation Site Providing Availability etc..]
* [http://irctc.co.in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited - Online Passenger Reservation Site]
*http://www.railtourismindia.com/
*http://www.indiamike.com/india/indian-railways-f10/understanding-reservation-forms-t7485/
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railway_Organisational_Structure
*http://www.icf.gov.in/html/Product_Gallery/thumbnails_home_page/HOME_PAGE.htm
*http://indianrail.gov.in/other_rly_sites.html
* [http://indiarail.info/ir-news/1-latest/159-indian-railways-adds-extra-births-in-trains.html Indian Railways adds extra births in trains]