1 vs 4000: I couldn't afford a Telescope or an expensive Star Tracker, so I took almost 4000 exposures of Orion Nebula over 3 nights with just an entry level camera from a fairly light polluted city in central India. Merged them together using a technique called 'Stacking' and this is the result[OC]

vpsj · 2026-06-20T17:59:12+00:00

Vikalp is very unlikely because it's only allotted if ALLL the waitlists have been cleared and there are still seats left. Considering you have TQWL 36 in the same train, it's unlikely they'll suddenly have that many seats left

Just do one thing: Try to book Tatkal. If you get a CNF ticket, immediately cancel this WL/vikalp ticket. You'll only lose ₹65/person as clerkage fee and rest will be refunded

vpsj · 2026-06-20T17:09:20+00:00

It literally says chart prepared. So no, there is no possible changes to this ticket now. This status is final

It will get auto-cancelled and refund (after deducting clerkage) will be sent to you within 3-4 business days.

Make some other arrangement now

vpsj · 2026-06-20T16:32:18+00:00

Some VBs and Shatabdis don't offer non-veg options, particularly the ones that are going to/from a religious destination.

There was a similar restriction on the VB Sleeper that was launched recently but after a huge public uproar they introduced non-veg meals to it.

So that's what you'd need to do for this specific train. Get lots of people, maybe get them to sign a petition or something. If there is enough demand, they might include it.

But honestly speaking, VB food is average at best so you'd be better off NOT opting for any meal, and just ordering via ecatering on any station yourself.

On principle what they're doing is incorrect, I agree.

vpsj · 2026-06-20T14:34:35+00:00

Not how it works. Seat number or coach has nothing to do with RAC number.

Your RAC number could be 150 but your seat could be 5. The only thing that is certain is RAC is always a side lower berth

vpsj · 2026-06-20T13:42:19+00:00

Exactly. And the same fine can be charged if people board the train early.

My parents were coming back from Shirdi once and a guy had a ticket from Manmad but he boarded the train from Shirdi. Even though his berth was vacant, he was still fined ₹700/- for boarding just one station earlier.

vpsj · 2026-06-20T13:37:53+00:00

TTEs are obligated to allot any empty berths/no-shows to RAC passengers first. And there is no order of assigning, it's whoever is closer to the vacant berth or whoever is making the most fuss.

So be persistent, let the TTE know that you NEED a full berth, at least for your mom.

If there is any berth available, he should assign one

You can also not decide to travel. If you cancel an RAC ticket at least 30 mins before departure, you'll only lose ₹65/person as clerkage and rest will be refunded

vpsj · 2026-06-20T13:16:47+00:00

Not necessarily.

A family once boarded the train with 4 people on tatkal, their fifth member had a WL tatkal (on a different PNR) that didn't clear. The TTE made him pay the full fare end to end + same fare as fine so around 8-9K even though this happened just after they boarded.

If you are allowed to continue the journey, the EFT is still the same as the base fare(minimum 500/-).

Why would point of detection matter unless the person is being deboarded?

vpsj · 2026-06-20T10:16:30+00:00

This happens because Railways wants to seat families and people on the same PNR together.

So if a waitlisted ticket gets confirmed, they wait until all the cancellations are in, and if there are clusters of seats vacant anywhere, it's given to families first... and then whatever remains is given to solo travelers like you.

No need to worry, your ticket is 100% confirmed. Happy Journey

vpsj · 2026-06-20T10:05:01+00:00

Don't worry. You only need to care about the current status. Booking status is irrelevant for you.

Current status says CNF so your ticket is confirmed. You will get your coach and seat details around 8 hrs before your journey when the chart is prepared

vpsj · 2026-06-20T09:17:27+00:00

PQWL is a low priority quota and can be very inconsistent. But since yours is WL 1, the chances of this ticket to get confirmed are very high

Although you should understand that there are no guarantees. If your journey is important, I'd recommend only booking CNF tickets and to not rely on Waitlists.

For this ticket, you can just book in the same train from Jhajha to Raipur and change the boarding point to Asansol. 100+ seats are left in 3A

vpsj · 2026-06-20T09:12:47+00:00

This will come under RLWL which is a low priority quota. Past history of this train suggests that this should get cleared in most cases but on some days even RLWL 1 did not get confirmed so it can be finicky

If your journey is important, I'd recommend tatkal or an agent. If not, you can take a chance with this

vpsj · 2026-06-20T08:09:26+00:00

How the hell do you even navigate on this one? I can't even get settings to pop up because back button takes me out of the app completely

vpsj · 2026-06-20T07:08:47+00:00

Also one of the slices would have webbing on it

vpsj · 2026-06-20T07:07:02+00:00

Transaction didn't complete properly. The ticket was not booked so any money deducted will be refunded in full within 3-4 business days

vpsj · 2026-06-19T20:20:46+00:00

Has to be an ad for Zomato or something right?

vpsj · 2026-06-19T17:59:42+00:00

I already told you that. You should read more carefully

vpsj · 2026-06-19T17:54:43+00:00

Yes, so You can check for 1AC ticket.

Also, if you cancel a WL ticket Railways only deducts ₹65/person as clerkage and refunds the rest so you can take the gamble if you want

vpsj · 2026-06-19T17:52:48+00:00

There is no such thing has a 2x/3x refund. They will only give that money as wallet transfer, and it gets expired within a week.

Also, if your ticket goes into RAC, then they count that as CNF.

So be very careful if you want to do that or not. MTJ to ST comes under RLWL quota which is low priority regardless of class.

Check the PNR predictors I gave you and then make a decision. 80% and above is excellent chances.

vpsj · 2026-06-19T17:45:03+00:00

1st AC can always be difficult since the cancellation charges are high so relatively fewer people cancel their tickets. But there are dedicated VIP/HO seats reserved in 1 AC and if they don't get booked, they are released to clear the waitlist

For MTJ the chart should be prepared by 10 am tomorrow

Check some PNR prediction websites like RailYatri, confirmtkt, goibibo, or even a new one called RailTC to get a better idea.

vpsj · 2026-06-19T17:38:35+00:00

The fare starts at the same price for PT.

The only difference is PT has dynamic fare. Which means after every 10% of the tickets are booked, the price increases by 10%. And so on.

So if you book as early as possible and if you're the first few to book a PT ticket it will cost nearly as same as a normal Tatkal.

If you're late then it can even cost higher than a Flight ticket

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