Are you a train traveler?
Of all these times in your train journey, you might have been to many places in various trains, starting from least fare to as luxurious as Maharaja Express. Have you ever noticed these Acronyms? PNR? RAC? M/E, GN? W/L? LD? HP? WDM? WAP?
May be but not all. Here are few for you. List of commonly used train journey abbreviations – Indian Railways
PNR
PNR stands for Passenger Name Record. PNR is a record of a passenger or group of passengers who are traveling in a particular train. When a passenger books a ticket PNR will be generated with his personal and journey details. This information is saved in the Passenger reservation system. It a 10 digit number which is a combination of 3 and 7 digits i.e. 270-5731027. The first digit of PNR number resembles the zone of the train, starting point of the train. Next two digits are based on PRS.
PNR starting with 2 and 3 indicates NR, NCR,NWR, NER
PNR starting with 4 and 5 indicates SR,SWR, SCR
PNR starting with 6 and 7 indicates NFR,ER,ECR,ECoR,SER,SECR
PNR starting with 8 and 7 indicates CR,WCR,WR
Other 7 digits of PNR are generated randomly. A PNR gets flushed after 9 months but same PNR can be generated after one year.
RAC
RAC is abbreviated as Reservation Against Cancellation. RAC is a type of train ticket which confirms your traveling in a train but does not guarantee a berth. When all available train tickets have been sold Indian railway then starts selling RAC tickets in few classes only i.e. 2A,3A,FC and SC. Whenever passengers who have confirmed ticket cancels or misses the train that particular ticket will be allotted to people in RAC, Waiting list. Order of preference for tickets is available tickets, RAC and Waiting.
GN / UR/ 2S
GN stands for General Coach also abbreviated as Unreserved or Second Seater. It is a common coach in the train where there are no special reservations are allowed while booking. This is often crowded coach where people who go on a daily basis and those who planned last minute journey. Seating arrangement is same as Chair Car but no air conditioning is provided.
SLR
SLR means Seating cum Luggage Rake, in a type of coach which is divided into two parts one is for sitting and another one is for luggage. This coach is found normally next to guard coach, ladies, guard; handicapped persons are accompanied by the coach.
M/E
M/E on train tickets stands for Mail or Express trains. As their name indicates these trains carry mail and letters. Express which is well known for carrying people. Mail and Express trains are regular service trains in India. These have fewer stops when compared with local and passenger trains.
WDM, WAP, WDM-4A, WAP 7
WDM, WAP are all train engine types in Indian railways. WDM stands for Broad Gauge Diesel Mixed train engine. First letter in WDM, W signifies the type of gauge length (width of a track), W – Broad, Y – Meter N,Z- narrow. Second Letter D is for the type of engine AC, Diesel. Third Letter M, Indicates type of transport it is used for P – Passengers, G – Goods, M – Mixed. Thus,
WDM stands for Broad Gauge Diesel Mixed train Engine.
WAP stands for Broad gauge AC powered Passenger carrying train engine
YAP – Meter gauge AC powered Passenger carrying train Engine
WDM-4 – Broad Gauge Diesel Mixed Train Engine – 4th Class
WAP 5– Broad gauge AC powered Passenger carrying train 5th model of Electromotive.
Although, these abbreviations do not impact our journey much but these will be interesting and cool answers for those who travel regularly and wonder why and what are these.