Ever wondered how the 10 digit PNR number you get from IRCTC – Indian Railways ticket is generated? Or what do the digits indicate? What is PNR? or What is PNR’s meaning? Or basically why do we even need PNR?
I had the same set of questions. I Googled extensively and tried to find the answers. Learnt many new things about the railway reservation system. Read along to boost your knowledge too…
PNR FAQs
- What is PNR? What is PNR full form? What is PNR in railways?
PNR: Passenger Name Record - What is meaning of PNR? Why it is used?
PNR simply means an entry in the database of your airline/railway/travel agency to store travel information of a passenger or group of passengers.PNR is used to keep track of travel itinerary in computer records.
- What is PNR Number?
It is a unique identifier to point to the PNR record in the database. - How do I check PNR status?
It depends on your travel agency.
A Google search is the fastest way to get PNR status of your ticket. A simple search such as “Indian Railways PNR status” or “Emirates PNR status” would do. - What is booking reference and is it same as PNR?
Booking reference is prominently used in air travel and in most cases, yes, it serves the same role as PNR. - What is PNR in train/Indian railways?
Please go through rest of the article below. It should give you an idea.
PNR History?
Although PNRs were originally introduced for air travel airlines systems, they can also be used for bookings of hotels, car rental, airport transfers, and train trips.
The PNR – Passenger Name Record: It’s Meaning and Status In Journey
In the airline and travel industries, a passenger name record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that has the itinerary for a passenger, or a group of passengers travelling together. The concept of a PNR was first introduced by airlines that needed to exchange reservation information in case passengers required flights of multiple airlines to reach their destination (‘interlining’).
Talking in the context of Indian Railways, PNR number is a unique pointer to a record in the railway database. The record pointed by PNR contains comprehensive journey details. The details may include:
- Passenger Details (Name, Age, Sex, Birth Preference)
- Ticket Details (Train No, Date, From, To, Boarding Station, Reservation Upto, Class, Birth, Quota)
- Transaction / Payment Details (Transaction ID, Payment Mode, Ticket Charge)
The Story Of 10 Digits
Now that we know about what the PNR is and why it’s used, let’s go further and break down the specifics.
First 3 Digits
[Update November 2018]
As per comment by Mr Murthy RN,
“I feel it is not correct presumption that the second and third digit indicate the PRS Centre, as I found the number (2nd and 3rd digits) varying too much in tickets issued from the same counter of a PRS Centre.”
So please take the following information with a grain of salt.
They tell us from which PRS the ticket has been booked. (PRS: Passenger Reservation System. Developed by CRIS, PRS is a total networking solution to Indian Railways Passenger Reservation System.)
The PNR numbers’ starting digit does not depend on the PRS from which it has been booked.
Following block is based on comment made by Aloke, thanks! https://darpan.blog/travel/breaking-down-the-pnr-number-of-indian-railways-what-how-why/#comment-19301
The first digit of the PNR is simply based on the PRS node that handles the train – i.e. the PRS node that the originating station of the train falls under.
There are only four digits that a train PNR starts with:
2 – for trains handled by the northern PRS node (Delhi)
4 – for trains handled by the southern PRS node (Chennai)
6 – for trains handled by the eastern PRS node (Kolkata)
8 – for trains handled by the western PRS node (Mumbai)
Last 7 Digits
They are randomly generated numbers using the Rand() function. They represent no information about the ticket or journey. This is done to make the PNR number unique.
One can check status of PNR number of http://www.indianrail.gov.in website. Also at every major stations, PNR stats checking counters are available.
Passanger name record number lasts minimum 9 month as the TDR filed can take maximum of 9 months. It then flushed out from the database.
(Normally) The digits of PNR become meaningless. However, PNR details may not be available for the general public once the journey gets over for privacy and security concerns of passengers.
How to Check Status of PNR Number
Indian Railways maintains PNR as the single point of transaction. IRCTC updates PNR status as and when required. For instance, when your ticket gets confirmed. You can also check PNR status.
So, next time when you book a ticket, have a glance at the first digit. And yes, you’re a pro Indian Railways traveler now! 🙂
Enjoyed reading? Have more information? Share your thoughts in the comments. Spread this post to illuminate others..
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_name_record
http://www.indianrail.gov.in
http://indiarailinfo.com/faq/post/regional-prs-centre-with-zone-and-pnr-starting-digit/1145
http://indiarailinfo.com/faq/post/1787
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