As you may have heard these terms while traveling on Indian Railways, “Charting”, “Chart Prepared” or “Chart Not Prepared”.

Charting is the process by which Indian Railways authorities allocate vacant seats of other quotas to General/Tatkal Quota. There are many quotas in Indian Railways under which the vacant seats are assigned.

General Rules for Chart Preparation

• The first chart for any train is prepared by the authorities about 4 hours before the scheduled departure time of the train from the originating station.
• For the trains which are scheduled to depart early in the morning, the chart is prepared usually the night before the departure.
• If there are vacant seats remaining in the first chart which is prepared 4 hours before the departure, then the remaining seats are made available for booking.
• The final chart is prepared about 30 minutes before the departure of the train from the station.
• In the final chart, some of the waiting list tickets are confirmed.
• Passengers are assigned Berth and Coach Number in the final chart according to their status, either confirmed or RAC.
• E-Tickets which are on Fully Waiting List are canceled automatically.
• After the final chart is prepared, fully confirmed tickets cannot be canceled.
• In the final chart, some passengers also get their status upgraded and they get accommodation in higher class without any extra charges.