PNR Introduction
The Indian railway is among the largest railway networks in the world, every day more than a million passengers along with tons of cargo are transported by the railways from one location to another. To maintain such a system and ensure its proper efficiency, the railways have developed a system of PNR for passengers who book a reserved ticket. So, PNR is the database of the computer reservation system that contains itinerary details of passengers or a group of passengers traveling through Trains, Buses, Railways, or Domestic and International flights. It is an electronic Barcode that contains details of the date, time, Boarding, and destination of the traveler. The booking reference which is also referred to as the PNR is the Indian Railways internal identifier for your train booking inside their computer systems.
How is a PNR Generated
The moment when a traveler books a trip, the trip specialist or travel site client will make a PNR in its computer reservation system. This is commonly one of the Global Distribution Systems, however, if the booking is made legitimately through a carrier, the PNR can likewise be in the database of the CRS of the service provider. This PNR is also known as the Master PNR for the traveler along with the related schedule or itinerary. The PNR is then kept in the specific database by a record locator and when travel segments are not given by the holder of the Master PNR, at that particular point, the duplicates of the PNR data are then sent to the CRSs of the service provider that will provide transportation. The CRSs open copies of the first PNR in their database to deal with those parts of the journey of the passenger for which it is capable. These Different transporters have their CRS facilitated by one of the GDSs that permits sharing of the PNR. Even though PNRs were initially presented only for air travel, these carrier frameworks can now additionally be utilized for appointments of lodgings, hotels, vehicle rental, air terminal exchanges, and train trips.
Difference between PNR and Itinerary:
A travel itinerary is a timetable of events relating to planned travel, comprehensively including destinations to be visited at indicated times and methods for transportation. PNR is the specialized term for a few or all parts (referred to as segments*) of a schedule. In other words, a schedule can have a few PNRs. PNRs comprise of at least one segment. A PNR can be reserved in one or more computer reservation systems (CRS) by means of different channels (for example global Distribution Systems – GDS). In order to get to these different PNRs in various systems, a Super PNR (sometimes referred to as master itinerary) becomes important. A Super PNR is like a PNR, in any case, it can contain different PNRs which belong to the same PNR.
How to Check PNR Status of Indian Railways?
Online Mode:
Go to the official website of Indian railways.
Enter the PNR number in the box given to check the current status of your booking.
You will get details such as Train number, departure time and berth status.
Offline Mode:
In case one does not have access to internet dial 139 from the phone to get PNR details.
First 3 digits:
It tells about from which PRS the ticket has been booked. The following table shows the
Details:
PNR Details:
Last 7 digits:
They are randomly generated numbers in which no specific information related to travel is present. It is only done to make the PNR unique.
FAQs on PNR Full-Form - Passenger Name Record
1. What is the difference between an itinerary and PNR?
Itinerary the travel itinerary is just a timetable of events that relate to planned travel while comprehensively including destinations to be visited at indicated times and methods for transportation. The PNR is a specialized term for some parts (referred to as segments*) of the schedule as mentioned in the itinerary. In other words, a schedule can have a few PNRs but not vice versa. These PNRs can comprise at least one segment and a PNR can be reserved in one or more computer reservation systems (CRS) using different channels.
2. How to check your PNR Status in Indian Railways?
The PNR status of Indian Railways travel can be checked in a few easy steps:
Go to the website of Indian Railways
Click on the page that deals with PNR status queries
Enter your PNR along with the captcha details
You will get the details like the status of your ticket, train number, etc on the screen.
Alternatively, the PNR status can be found by Offline mode or by using other mobile applications.
3. What do the first 3 digits tell us about the PNR?
Every PNR number issued by the Indian railways has 10 digits. They consist of the first 3 letters and the last 7 digits. The first 3 digits are used to signify the area code of the train for which the ticket has been booked. The number 2,3 denotes the area code of NR, NCR, NWR, NER, and the zone of New Delhi PRS. This is essential to identify what is the starting point and the boarding point of the passengers. Out of the 10 digits, the last 7 digits of the PNR are randomly generated.
4. What are the different types of PNR status?
Any passenger that books a ticket in the Indian railways hopes that he would get a reserved seat in the train but due to the immense rush of passengers in Indian trains, it has been observed that sometimes tickets are not available on trains. In such conditions, railways issue a waiting ticket. The categories of different tickets are Confirmed, Waiting, Reservation against Cancellation, etc. In case a person’s ticket is not confirmed, his ticket amount is refunded.
5. What is the importance of PNR?
PNR or passenger Name record is an extremely important data which records the name of the passengers, train number, boarding and destination stations, etc. In a system where more than a million passengers commute every day, It is important to keep a systemic record of the travelers and for this, the PNR is a very handy tool. It helps establish quotas of tickets between various stations.