What is pooled quota waiting list?

I have booked four tickets from Delhi to Goa, and after booking, I have got confirmation for only one ticket. The other three tickets have a status of PQWA (pooled quota waiting list).

I haven't come across this status before and would like to know what is pooled quota waiting list is?

What are the chances of getting a confirmed ticket?

 

Hello, welcome to the forum!

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Overview

When you first encounter the Indian Railways website, chances are, you might get a bit confused with the different codes and terminologies used in there. One aspect that truly confuses many individuals is the different quotas in the Indian Railways. You have the usual quotas like GNWL, RLGN, PQWL, etc. and then, there's the special quotas like FTQ, LDQ, HOQ, EQ, etc. For the first-time travellers to India, sometimes even locals themselves, the terms can be very mind-boggling, not to mention the process of booking itself. In this guide, we would clear out such confusions about these quotas, specifically the PQWL, also known as the Pooled Quota Waiting List.

Different Quotas in Indian Railways

As mentioned above, there are various types of quotas in the Indian Railways. We can divide them into two, namely: the usual quotas and the special quotas. The usual quotas are the ones available for booking online and in person. These quotas are also the most utilised ones in the Indian Railways and most trains have them. On the other hand, the special quotas are usually available for booking only in person though some can be booked for online. They are not usually opened to the public because they cater to specific types of individuals or passengers. In this guide, we would be focusing more on the former, the ones that you usually encounter in booking for your trains online or in person.

✰ The Usual Quotas in Indian Railways ✰

Quota Name	Waiting List Quota Name	Code (Waiting List Code)	Number of Seats/Berths	Description
General Quota	General Quota Waiting List	GN (GNWL)	Highest	Start > End Journey
Remote Location	Remote Location Waiting List	RL (RLWL)	Moderate	Important Intermediate > End Journey
Pooled Quota	Pooled Quota Waiting List	PQ (PQWL)	Medium	Start > Intermediate Journey, Intermediate > Intermediate Journey & Intermediate > End Journey
Roadside Station	Roadside Station Waiting List	RS (RSWL)	Few	Start > Intermediate Journey
Request Quota	Request Quota Waiting List	RQ (RQWL)	Few	Other Intermediate > Intermediate Journey

These are the usual quotas available in an Indian Railways train, though you won't always find all these quotas in one train. In total, we have five quotas and also five waiting lists. We would discuss them in more details and focus on the following sections.

1. General Quota (GN) - The General Quota is the most common quota in the Indian Railways. All trains have a General Quota, usually having the greatest number of seats and berths allocation for passengers. A General Quota means that the seats are reserved for passengers travelling through the full journey of the train, from its start to end, that is from the originating station, up to the terminating station. This quota also includes those passengers travelling from the originating station, up to a nearby station to the terminating station. Once the quota is exhausted, passengers would then be put into the General Quota Waiting List (GNWL).

2. Remote Location (RL) - The Remote Location is another quota in the Indian Railways. Not all trains have a Remote Location Quota though, but your journey from Delhi to Goa has it. A Remote Location Quota means that the passenger booked a ticket from an important intermediate station, like New Delhi Railway Station, up to the terminating station or a station nearby it. Once the quota is exhausted, passengers would then be put into the Remote Location Waiting List (RLWL).

3. Pooled Quota (PQ) - You would be put under the Pooled Quota if you fulfil the following conditions. First, if you have booked a ticket for the train's originating station up to an intermediate station. So for example, if you booked for the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station up to the Madgaon Railway Station, but the terminating station is Ernakulam Junction Railway Station. Second, if you have booked for a ticket for the train's intermediate station to another intermediate station. And third, if you have booked for a ticket for the train's intermediate station to the terminating station. The number of seats allotted for this quota is significantly lesser as compared to the General Quota. Once the quota is exhausted, passengers would be placed under the Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL).

4. Roadside Station (RS) - This is a rare quota type, which you would only find in few routes. The Roadside Station Quota covers train journeys not covered by the General Quota, Remote Location Quota or Pooled Quota. The passenger should have booked the ticket from the originating station to an intermediate station. Unlike the other quotas, this quota doesn't have any provisions for Reservation Against Cancellation tickets as well. Once this quota is exhausted, the passengers would be put on the Roadside Station Waiting List (RSWL).

5. Request Quota (RQ) - The last quota type is the Request Quota, which is yet another rare quota. This quota covers a journey starting from an intermediate station to another intermediate station, usually those that aren't covered by the Pooled Quota. The allocation for seats or berths for this quota is very less and it's rare to find a train which has this quota. Once the quota is fulfilled, the passengers who want to book under this would be put in the Request Quota Waiting List (RQWL).

Further Discussion of Quota Types

To help you understand the different types of quotas even more, the chart below should be examined. This chart highlights the various quota types and just how they differ from one another. The letters above depict the supposed stations that a train passes through in one route. The numbers on the left side depict the berth numbers for the train. The various colours depict the different quotas in a train, RSWL (Pink), RLWL (Blue), RQWL (Orange), PQWL (Lavender) and GNWL (Light Green).

Chart Depicting Quota Types of Indian Railways (Image Owned by India Travel Forum)
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From the chart above, you can understand the concept of quotas more easily. Keep in mind that this is just a sample chart and actual number of berths in a train might vary. The various types of quotas are colour coded above so you can easily distinguish them. So let's take the Remote Location (RL) Quota as an example. This quota is the blue-coloured one from the chart. As has been explained before, the Remote Location (RL) Quota includes tickets booked from an important intermediate station up to the terminating station or a nearby station to it. For the chart above, that important intermediate station is designated as Station E and from that station, the train would terminate at Station J, Station H, Station I or Station G.

For both Roadside Quota (RS) and Request Quota (RQ), you can see that these quotas don't fulfil the full journey or even half of it. For the former, though the originating station is covered, the end of the journey, which is the intermediate station, is just a few stations away from it. It could even be that the starting station and ending station are both located in intermediate ones. For the Request Quota (RS), the points covered are Station C to Station G, Station D to Station H and Station D to Station I.

The Pooled Quota (PQ), marked as the lavender colour code, depicts the description mentioned above as well. It could be from an originating station (Station A) to an intermediate station (Station D). It could be from an intermediate station (Station C) to the terminating station (Station J). It could also be from an intermediate station (Station C) to an intermediate station (Station G). The number of berths allotted for this quota are higher since several stations share the quota in one train.

The last one, the General Quota (GN), marked as the light green colour code, also depicts the appropriate description given above. It could be from an originating station (Station A) to the terminating station (Station J). It could also be from a nearby station to the originating station (Station B) to the terminating station (Station J). Or it could also be from the originating station (Station A) to a station close to the terminating station (Station I). The number of berths allotted for this quote is usually the highest in a train.

The Pooled Quota Waiting List

So hopefully, by this time, the Pooled Quota (PQ) should have been a bit clearer to you already. Let us discuss the Pooled Quota (PQ) more in-depth though, using your journey as an example, which is from Delhi to Goa. In a nutshell, the Pooled Quota covers journeys from originating station to intermediate station, from intermediate station to intermediate station and from intermediate station to terminating station. Some train routes have their own Pooled Quota and once all the seats for the quota are allotted, the Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL) would be utilised.

Trains from Delhi to Madgaon (Goa)
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These are the trains running from Delhi to Goa. The two trains with Pooled Quota (PQ) are encircled above, which are the Mangala Lakshadweep SF Express Train No. 12618 and Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Thiruvananthapuram Central Rajdhani Express Train No. 12432. Now, let us choose the latter as an example for our in-depth explanation of the Pooled Quota (PQ) or even the Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL).

Originating Station, Intermediate Stations and Terminating Station of Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Thiruvananthapuram Central Rajdhani Express Train No. 12432
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The image above showcases the various stations that the Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Thiruvananthapuram Central Rajdhani Express Train No. 12432 passes through. As you can see, the originating station is the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi. The terminating station, however, is the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station in Trivandrum. You would be alighting at the Madgaon Junction Railway Station, which is an intermediate station, the 8th stopover of the train en route to Trivandrum. This is why when you book a ticket for this train, you would be assigned under the Pooled Quota (PQ). And once the quota is filled, you would then be put under the Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL).

Comparison of Seat Availability in PQWL and GNWL Trains
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In the image above, you can clearly see the gap between the number of seats in a PQWL train and a GNWL train. The same Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Thiruvananthapuram Central Rajdhani Express Train No. 12432 is pictured above. For the AC Third Class (3A), it has 98 available seats, for the AC Second Class, it has 44 available seats and for the AC 1st Class (1A), it has 10 available seats. For the GNWL train, the Hazrat Nizamuddin Thiruvananthapuram Central Rajdhani Express Train No. 22634, you can refer to the picture on the right side. For the Sleeper Class (SL), it has 218 available seats, for the AC Third Class (3A), it has 103 available seats and for the AC Second Class, it has 23 available seats.

As for your chances of getting confirmed on a waitlisted Pooled Quota ticket, it varies. As mentioned above, this quota has a lower number of allotted seats and berths, thus the chances of someone cancelling their ticket are lower. But generally, if you're in the waitlist position of 10 to 20, meaning WL10, WL15 or WL20, the chances of getting confirmed are quite good. You can utilise the help of a website that predicts the confirmation possibility. A trusted one is the website of Trainman. A sample confirmation prediction is given below, again for the same train, the Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Thiruvananthapuram Central Rajdhani Express Train No. 12432.

Prediction of Ticket Confirmation by Trainman
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For the date May 16, 2017, the AC Third Class (3A) of the Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Thiruvananthapuram Central Rajdhani Express Train No. 12432 was already exhausted. Thus, if you book a ticket for this date, for this class, you would be put under the Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL). From the image above, you would see that the serial waiting list number is PQWL44 and the running waiting list number is WL30. The confirmation probability for this is at 86%, which is pretty good. You can always go to websites like this one to know the chances of your ticket being confirmed. Alternatively, if you have already booked a ticket, you can go to the IRCTC website and check for the PNR status as well.

Conclusion

I hope this guide cleared up the different types of quotas for you, most especially the Pooled Quota. The Pooled Quota is one of the five usual quotas of the Indian Railways. The Pooled Quota has a set number of berths and seats in one train. Usually, passengers boarding the train at the originating station and then alighting at the intermediate station is given a seat in this quota. It also includes the passengers that board the train at an intermediate station and alight at the terminating station or even the passengers that board the train at an intermediate station and alight at another intermediate station. The lower number of allotted seats means that the chances of passengers cancelling their tickets are also lower.

Good luck!