Indian railway has provided 19 different types of quotas for passengers which are General, Ladies, Defense, Parliament, Tatkal, Premium Tatkal, Senior citizen, physically handicapped, etc. But sometimes even this kind of facility leaves you disappointed and you must be thinking what is the point of having a special quota for senior citizens. Now, what if we tell you that there are certain rules that keep you away from booking lower berths for senior citizens. So, let’s talk about those unstated rules of the Indian railway for a special lower berth quota.
How many seats in the lower berths are reserved for senior citizens?
Do you know there is a limitation of berths in this quota?
Each Sleeper coach has six lower berths intended for older persons, while 3 AC and 2 AC coaches have three lower berths for each coach.
Is it quite confusing? ok let us explain it:
Every express has usually 12 sleeper coaches and every sleeper coach has 72 seats. This means the total seats in sleeper coach are 864 (72X12). Every compartment has three lower berths which make the total lower berths in a coach number 24 (72 ÷3). So, every coach has 24 lower berths which means the total lower berths in the sleeper class are 288 (24X12).
As per this quota rules, six seats in every coach are reserved for the senior citizen’s quota.
Who are eligible for the senior citizen quota?
These are some criteria for booking the train ticket under the senior citizen quota:
- The male passenger should be 60 years or older and the female passenger should be 58 years or older.
- If a female passenger is traveling alone then her age should be at least 45 or above.
- Pregnant ladies also avail this facility but they have to show their medical certificate and reservation can only be done from booking counters or reservation offices.
Why is there only one berth available for senior citizens while booking the ticket?
While booking the ticket for the senior citizen quota you may have noticed that there is only one lower berth available, even after mentioning that there are multiple senior passengers.
The reason behind this is that there are a small number of seats available in this quota. So, no matter how many senior passengers you have mentioned in your form the lower berth will be provided to only one.
How to get multiple lower berths under the senior citizen quota?
If you are booking the ticket for multiple senior passengers then you can book tickets using separate senior citizen concession forms. You will have to fill an individual form for each ticket to get a lower berth for multiple senior passengers. When reserving the seats for several senior persons, you should use this trick to ensure lower berth seats.
Things to know under senior citizen quota
- Under the rules regulation of senior citizen quota, if you try to book multiple tickets under this quota. You only get one lower berth.
- While booking the ticket under this quota there is surety of getting a confirmed ticket every time.
- Under this quota, the lower berths are not left vacant. This means the lower berths under this quota are not only meant for senior citizens. A pregnant lady or a lady above 45 years old also can avail this facility.