What is PQWL/AVAILABLE in IRCTC ? Pooled Quota Waiting List ( PQWL )

  • PQWL: A Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL) is shared by several  small stations. Pooled Quotas normally operate only from the originating  station of a route, and there is only one Pooled Quota for the entire  run. The Pooled Quota is generally allotted for passengers travelling  from the originating station to a station short of the terminating  station, or from an intermediate station to the terminating station, or  between two intermediate stations.


Pooled Quota Waiting List ( PQWL )  is a special quota in a waiting list and is shared by several small stations in a particular region. For example if you book a ticket in 12418 prayagraj express from new delhi to kanpur than your ticket will be placed in PQWL quota . Pooled quota is intended only for persons who travel to intermediate stations and not meant for end to end passengers . The seats kept for pqwl are generally very low hence pqwl tickets have very less chances of confirmation.

Example 1 In tamil nadu sampark kranti , i booked from new delhi to chennai egmore and my ticket had status pqwl 18 /16. I found out that there are around 80 seats in pooled quota . 20 days later chart was prepared but my status was stuck on wl 3 which means that only 13 cancellations were done in 20 days .

Example 2 In Mumbai ahmedabad shatabdi i booked ticket from Mumbai to vadodara 10 days prior to journey . My status was pqwl 55 /40 . I searched for total quota from mumbai to vadodara and it was 100 seats . So i was sure that my ticket wont confirm , but surprisingly it confirmed on chart preparation .

Example 3 Ticket was booked in mahanagri express from nasik road to jalgaon which is very short distance of 300 km.The waiting list status was wl 25/13 . The quota is of only 20 seats . But ticket confirmed .

The conclusion which i draw from my experiences is that if distance is short compared to overall distance travelled by train then pqwl has very good chances of confirmation. But if the distance is large like example 1 in sampark kranti then chances are very low of confirmation.
Thanks to indiarailinfo.com for pnr data

Post your experiences also in comments section .

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