The IRCTC quotas are used to reserve seats in trains. There are 19 quotas in total that cater to the varying requirements of passengers.
| S.No | Quota | Description |
| 1. | GN | General Quota |
| 2. | TQ | Tatkal Quota |
| 3. | PT | Premium Tatkal Quota |
| 4. | LD | Ladies Quota |
| 5. | HO | Headquarters/High Official Quota |
| 6. | HP | Physically Handicapped Quota |
| 7. | PH | Parliament House Quota |
| 8. | DF | Defence Quota |
| 9. | FT | Foreign Tourist Quota |
| 10. | DP | Duty Pass Quota |
| 11. | SS | Female above 45 Years Old/Senior Citizen Travelling Alone |
| 12. | YU | Yuva Quota |
| 13. | LB | Lower Berth Quota |
| 14. | RS | Road Side |
| 15. | GNRS | General Quota Road Side |
| 16. | RE | Railway Employee Staff on Duty for the train |
| 17. | OS | Out Station |
| 18. | PQ | Pooled Quota |
| 19. | RAC | Reservation Against Cancellation |
Let’s talk about these IRCTC quotas in detail:
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Book TrainsGeneral Quota (GN)
General Quota is the most common type of quota in IRCTC train ticket booking and it has the highest number of seats allocated in a train. The booking for the same opens 120 days in advance.
Tatkal Quota (TQ)
The Tatkal Quota was introduced for passengers with urgent travel plans. The booking for this quota opens at 10 AM one day prior to the date of train origination and the seats fill up fast. The booking can be made for all classes with it, except the First AC and the Executive class.
Premium Tatkal Quota (PT)
The Indian Railways reserves a few seats under the Premium Tatkal Quota with an increased fare for passengers who need to travel urgently. The booking process begins at the same time as the Tatkal quota: 10 AM for AC classes and 11 AM for non-AC classes.
Ladies Quota (LD)
This quota is reserved for female passengers travelling alone or with a child less than 12 years of age. In some trains, six berths are designated for female passengers in Second Seating (2S) and Sleeper Class (SC).
Headquarters/High official Quota (HO)
A small number of seats/berths are reserved for Railway officials, VIPs, bureaucrats, etc. The allotment of seats is done on a first come, first served basis. The quota can be applied on tickets that are booked in General Quota but are on the Waiting List.
Physically Handicapped Quota (HP)
The Divyangjan Quota is reserved for passengers with physical disabilities. They are assigned two berths for travelling. The lower berth is for the individual with the disability, and the middle one is for their accompanying escort.
Parliament House Quota (PH)
Much like the HO quota, the Parliament House Quota is for MLAs, MPs, state and centre ministers, judges, etc. It represents the number of seats set aside for the high officials that they can avail to meet their urgent travel requirements.
Defence Quota (DF)
As the name suggests, this IRCTC quota is for defence officials and can be availed through their ID cards. Tickets booked through the DF quota are often used for relocations, taking a trip back home, or rejoining duty after leave.
Foreign Tourist Quota (FT)
A small number of seats is reserved for foreign tourists who hold valid visas and NRIs in almost all trains across different classes. The fares for these seats are 1.5 times more than the base fare of the Railways.
Duty Pass Quota (DP)
The Duty Pass Quota is meant for the Railway staff to board the train for their duties. There are a limited number of berths reserved for serving/retired Railway employees in all classes that can be booked against this quota.
Female above 45 Years of Age/Senior Citizen Travelling Alone (SS)
Under the SS quota, females above 45 years of age and senior citizens who are travelling alone are assigned lower berths in a train. Only two tickets can be booked at a time with this quota.
Yuva Quota (YU)
The Yuva Quota in trains is for unemployed travellers aged 18-45 years, as certified by the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). It is mandatory to produce the NREGA certificate to avail this concession during IRCTC ticket booking. 10% of the seats are reserved in Yuva trains for these individuals.
Lower Berth Quota (LB)
Under this quota, lower berths in trains are reserved for male passengers aged 60 and above, and female passengers aged 45 and above. The Lower Berth Quota can be availed by them while travelling alone or if two such passengers are travelling together.
Road Side Quota (RS)
The Road Side Quota is allotted to passengers boarding the train from intermediate stations that are not available in the networked computerised reservation system.
General Quota Road Side (GNRS)
General Quota Road Side or Remote Location Quota is for those railway stations that are not connected with the Passenger Reservation System (PRS). These small stations maintain the reservation records manually.
Railway Employee Staff on Duty for the Train (RE)
Railways provides exclusive journey passes to its employees, which come under Railway Employee Staff on Duty for the Train quota.
Out Station Quota (OS)
The Out Station Quota is manually allotted to passengers from remote locations that don’t have online booking facilities. To avail this quota, one has to submit an application to the nearest Railway head by6 PM one day prior to the journey. The Railway head then feeds their names into the computerised PRS before chart preparation.
Pooled Quota (PQ)
The Pooled Quota is allotted to passengers either travelling from the originating station to a station short of the terminating station, or from an intermediate station to the terminating station, or between two intermediate stations. There is, however, only one pooled quota for the entire train run. When this quota is filled, tickets are issued under the Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL). The chances of these tickets getting confirmed are very low.
Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC)
The RAC quota accommodates two passengers in one berth. Under this quota, a berth is split between two RAC ticket holders. If one of the passengers with the ticket doesn’t board the train, the full berth is allotted to the passenger with the other RAC ticket.
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