WL vs. PQWL Railway Reservation Funda

WL vs. PQWL! 

PNR Status Prediction Trainman

SOMETHING interesting to share today. Hope it helps. Learning is a constant process and you can never say there is a deadwall in anyone's learning curve. Couple of days ago, exactly on 30 Aug, 2018, I tried to book a Railway Ticket from ET to HWH (Etersy Jn. to Howrah). The night before 30th I checked the status of reservation for 28/12/2018. To my utter surprise I found reservation status in 3AC in Mumbai - Howrah Kolkata Exp. (Train No. 12322) is already WL 2. Why? The reservation will open on the next date, i.e., on Aug 30, 2018. So, how can the booking get started on 29 Aug, i.e. a day in advance, and that too, all the tickets are already booked!

I was confused. I checked the date as follow:-

Date of Reservation (Journey Date): 28/12/2018

Date of Ticket Booking : 30/08/2018 ( The date of opening of booking for 28/12/2018)

I checked the status on 29/08/2018 and I found that already status of reservation is Waiting List (WL).

Not sure what to do, the next day I visited the counter and booked ticket and got PQWL 3, 4, and 5.

I was hopeful that it will get confirmation later on. However, I was not happy with the idea that how could I get waitlisted ticket on the very opening day of booking ticket - that too - when it is not at all the pick tourist season.

Now, to my utter surprise, I checked the ticket availability status today, and found the following status:-

JOURNEY DATE: 28/12/2018

Train No. 12332 From ET to HWH : WL 6 (Conf. Probability 81%)

Train No. 12332 From CSMT to HWH : AVAILABLE 70 

Now, the idea is very clear to me.

What Will You Get? WL or PQWL

Indian Railway has a QUOTA based reservation system. The quota varies for the same train for ticket booking from various stations. The quota is more when we book ticket from any source station. But quota reduces when we book ticket from any intermediate stations. Now, we get confirmed ticket if seats are available within that quota.  When the quota exhausts, we may get General Waiting List (GNWL or WL) or Pulled Quota Waiting List (PQWL). We get WL ticket when we book from Originating Station or its nearby stations. But we get PQWL tickets when we book ticket for any intermediate station. In my case I got PQWL because the train started from CSMT but I booked ticket from ET. Now, the quota for train no. 12332 (starting from CSMT) from ET is less, so, I got PQWL. That means when we book ticket from any intermediate station, the Indian Railway has less quota for reservation. If we are lucky we get confirmed ticket. But if we are not lucky we get PQWL (Pulled Quota Waiting List). It clearly means that the quota for reservation from any intermediate station is already low. Now the main reservation quota has exhausted. So you can avail PQWL. And it might get confirmed as PQWL is given least priority.

There is no fault on the part of anyone - not me, not the booking clerk. And most unfortunately, chances of confirmation of PQWL is bleak.

How WL or PQWL tickets get confirmed

The process is maintained by Indian Railway Reservation System automatically. So, there is literally no manual intervention. The  system flows as follows.

For WL Tickets

WL ->  RAC (Sitting CONFIRMED but No Birth) -> Confirmed

For PQWL Tickets

PQWL ->  WL -> RAC (Sitting CONFIRMED but No Birth) -> Confirmed

So, PQWL is less likely to get confirmed.

Still I checked different websites to know about the confirmation probability:-

1) Trainman.in - 59% (Less)

2) Confirmticket.net - Not responding

3) RailYatri.in - 88% (Very High)

PNR Status Prediction RailYatri

Is there any way to get rid of nasty PQWL

Firstly, 

Try booking from another stations. Yes, and probably, for sure yes, if you can spend more money. For me, instead of booking ticket from ET to HWH, I could have booked from CSMT - HWH (available 70, as on date), and set my boarding point at ET. For that I would have to pay more. But I would get confirmed ticket. So, we may check by changing the source station to see, if tickets are available from any other station.

Secondly, 

Try HO (High Official) Quota.

Every train has VIP quota allotted for MP, MLA, or Govt. Officers and for emergency. Visit the concerned DRM (Divisional Railway Manager) office, write an application explaining details and emergency, and fill up a form. You are likely to get a reservation, if you can convince the DRM. 

Source : Quora

Thirdly, 

and most unethically, book your ticket from Railway Counter, WL / PQWL e-Ticket / App Ticket is not valid. Money is automatically refunded to your account if you don't get confirmation or RAC. Most confidently board on the train and MANAGE TTE (Travelling Ticket Examiner) .

To conclude
Well my ticket has already shifted from PQWL to WL, so hopefully, it will be confirmed very shortly.