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With a view to cater to requirements of different categories of passengers served by Indian Railways, available reserved accommodation is distributed broadly under following types of reservation quotas:
| S.No. | Quota | Available for |
| General | General Public | |
| Tatkal | General Public | |
| Premium Tatkal | General Public | |
| Parliament House | Hon’ble Members of Parliament (Sitting and Former) | |
| Ladies | Female passenger travelling alone or in a group of female passengers | |
| Senior Citizen | Combined quota for senior citizens, female passengers above 45 years & pregnant women | |
| Foreign Tourist | Foreigners | |
| Defence | Defence Personnel | |
| Roadside | General Public | |
| Pooled | General Public | |
| Cancer Patient | Cancer Patients | |
| RAC(Reservation Against Cancellation) | General Public | |
| Physically Handicapped | Divyangjan | |
| Duty Pass | Serving/retired Railway employees travelling on Duty/Privilege/Post retirement complimentary passes etc. in specified trains | |
| Railway Employees | Designated Railway employees travelling on Duty in trains | |
| Yuva | Unemployed persons between the age of 15 & 45 | |
| Emergency | Urgent travel requirement of High Official Requisition (HOR) holders, Members of Parliament, and general public |
While booking reserved tickets through the website of Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation(IRCTC), passengers can book tickets under General Quota, Ladies Quota, Foreign Tourist Quota, Premium Tatkal Quota, Tatkal Quota, Senior Citizen Quota, and Physically Handicapped (Divyangjan) Quota. In addition to the above quotas, accommodation can also be allotted under Reservation Against Cancellation(RAC) & Pooled Quota while booking reserved tickets through website of IRCTC. These reservation quotas constitute approximately 94% of total reserved accommodation available on Indian Railways, which can be booked both through internet as well as through computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) of Indian Railways. To avoid any misuse, this facility is generally not extended for those quotas which require prior physical verification of documents. However, recently this facility has been extended to persons with disability, Press correspondents and Defence Personnel. Extension of such facilities to different categories of passengers is a continuous and ongoing exercise.
This information was given by the Minister of State of Railways, Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
04/01/2019
