GNWL: General Waiting List Tickets – Know Your IRCTC Train Ticket Types

What does GNWL mean?

General Waiting List (GNWL)- The main quota for a train is called the General Quota, which is normally for passengers boarding at (or close to) the trains’ originating station, and travelling to the terminating station. When all the General Quota tickets are sold, a General Wait List (GNWL or just WL) is started. This is the most common type of waiting list and has got the highest chances of confirmation.
 

GNWL confirmation chances

Whenever RAC tickets are cancelled they are allotted to GNWL ticket holders. The is the most common type of waiting list ticket and has the highest confirmation probability.

However, you can check the confirmation probability of your ticket getting confirmed at IRCTC Website
For more details, you may also download the IRCTC app for mobile devices. 

WL-Waiting List Tickets 

If the ticket status is marked as WL followed by a number, then the passenger has a waitlisted status. The ticket can get confirmed only if the passengers who have booked before for the same journey cancel their ticket. For example, if the status is GNWL 13 / WL 9, then this means that the ticket has a waiting list of 9 and it will get confirmed only if 9 passengers who have booked before for the same journey cancel their tickets. GNWL/AVAILABLE means that the current status of the ticket is Confirmed because some passengers who booked before having cancelled their tickets.  In case the passenger status is waitlisted even after the chart preparation, then the passenger is not allotted any berth.  If cancellation of a waitlisted ticket is made 48 hours before the departure of the train, only a cancellation charge of Rs. 60 is deducted per person. If all the passengers on an e-ticket have waitlisted status after final chart preparation, then the ticket gets automatically cancelled and the amount is refunded back to the user’s account. In this case, the passengers are advised not to board the train. If at least one passenger has RAC or confirmed status while the other passengers on the same ticket have waiting list status, then the e-ticket does not get cancelled automatically and the passengers are allowed to board the train

A passenger is guaranteed a journey if his/her ticket is CNF(confirmed) or RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) but not if its WL(Waiting List). These technical details can be quite illegible to the average user, who can struggle to grapple what TQWL or RLWL is, or what PQWL means.

All the different statuses of train tickets are described below in intricate detail.:
•    General Waiting List (GNWL)
•    Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL)
•    Remote Location Waiting list (RLWL)
•    Tatkal Waiting List Tickets (TQWL)