Who Gets Confirmed Tickets First in Indian Railways? The Untold Truth!

The number of disappointed passengers when the reservation becomes successful after months but in return only finds it in the waiting list is heartbreaking. In order to know and explain who is the first beneficiary to get their confirmed tickets under the complex but systematic Indian Railway structure, knowing this process improves chances.
Some tickets are more likely to be confirmed than others, depending on various factors.
The Indian Railways classifies the waiting list tickets into categories based on their potential for being confirmed. The majority of these are upgraded very less, and few are mostly upgraded. There is a brief summary of those types below.

This is the most commonly encountered type of waiting list. There is the maximum chance for such tickets to be confirmed. It is issued to passengers who book tickets from the train's originating station. For instance, if a train is originating from Delhi and the ticket is booked from Delhi itself, then the passenger will be given a GNWL ticket. The category has a priority over others, and cancellations by confirmed passengers usually result in the upgrading of the GNWL ticket. If a ticket status shows GNWL 5, it means that five cancellations are required for confirmation.

This category includes passengers traveling between intermediate stations rather than from the train's starting point. Since long-distance travelers are given preference, PQWL tickets have a lower probability of confirmation. If a passenger is traveling only a portion of the train's route, securing a seat can be challenging due to the limited availability of pooled quota seats.

This waiting list applies to Tatkal ticket bookings once all the allotted Tatkal seats have been filled. While the GNWL tickets have a confirmation quota of its own, separate from the confirmed quota, TQWL Tatkal waiting list tickets do not. That means, barring any last-minute cancellations, tickets in TQWL hardly ever get confirmed.

This category is assigned to passengers who board from smaller, intermediate stations instead of major railway hubs. Indian Railways prefers longer-distance bookings, and thus the confirmation chances of RSWL tickets are quite low as compared to GNWL tickets.

Understanding the priority order for ticket confirmation would help passengers, in turn, make proper booking choices. General Waiting List tickets always have the highest possibility of being confirmed, while Pooled Quota, Tatkal, and Remote Station Waiting List tickets have, respectively, much smaller probabilities. The passenger's boarding station also plays a significant role in determining their probability of getting confirmations.
The type of waiting list and the ticket number should always be checked by the passengers while booking train travel. A General Waiting List ticket with a higher waiting number has a better chance of confirmation compared to a Pooled Quota Waiting List ticket with a lower number.
By carefully selecting the boarding station and being aware of the type of waiting list, travelers can maximize their chances of securing a confirmed seat. It makes the train travel planning much more efficient and reduces uncertainty related to the waiting list ticket.