The Reservation Against Cancellation arrangement was originally designed during the manual ticketing era when real-time vacancy tracking did not exist. Under the current rules, two ticket holders must split a single berth unless full accommodations open up prior to or during the journey. The arrangement has also caused operational difficulties for ticket examiners when male and female passengers are paired together on the same berth.
Key points
A parliamentary panel has urged the railways to reconsider charging full fares for shared…: A parliamentary panel has urged the railways to reconsider charging full fares for shared sleeping accommodations.
RAC ticket holders currently receive sitting space while holding priority over waitlisted…: RAC ticket holders currently receive sitting space while holding priority over waitlisted travellers for newly vacant berths.
Automatic refunds are issued to RAC passengers if a scheduled train is cancelled by the r…: Automatic refunds are issued to RAC passengers if a scheduled train is cancelled by the railway authorities.
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Reservation Against Cancellation or RAC is an often talked about class of tickets that allows you an assured berth on a train, but on a sharing basis. Now,
Indian Railways is examining whether it should discontinue the RAC facility.
According to this TOI report, the proposal is being considered amid concerns about passenger comfort and whether a reservation arrangement that has existed for decades needs to be reconsidered.
“There is a view that when a passenger isn’t getting full sleeping space, it may not be appropriate to charge the full fare,” said an official.
Let’s first understand what is Reservation Against Cancellation ticket:
What is RAC and what are the rules for booking, berth allocation, cancellation and refunds?
RAC is a train ticket under which two passengers share a single berth even though each is charged the full fare and receives only half the sleeping space.
RAC originated at a time when railway reservations were largely processed manually and there was no electronic mechanism to track cancellations and vacant berths in real time.
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