Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) offers the service of online booking of tickets, which opens 120 days prior to the actual date of journey. The status of the booked tickets can either be waitlisted (WL), Reserved against Cancellation
(RAC), or Confirmed.
(RAC), or Confirmed.
A waitlisted status is denoted by 'WL' followed by a waiting number. Here are the rules you should know about the waitlisted tickets.
Rules about train ticket status and preparation of charts
Those passengers whose ticket status is fully confirmed or fully RAC (Reservation against Cancellation) after preparation of charts- their names will appear in the charts and they can undertake the journey.
On the other hand, those passengers whose ticket status is partly confirmed/partly waitlist or partly RAC/partly waitlist- their names will show up in 'charts including waitlisted passengers.'
About cancelation by passengers; by IRCTC; issue of refund
Notably, cancelation of e-tickets by passengers/agents through IRCTC website is allowed only before preparation of charts.
Further, those (waitlisted) passengers who are completely left out- their names won't show up in the charts, and they're not allowed to travel in the train on such tickets.
Additionally, all waitlisted tickets are cancelled by IRCTC after charts-preparation, and refund is transferred to the passenger's account electronically.