Chart Preparation
Also known as: chart prep, reservation chart, first chart, second chart
The moment Indian Railways finalises the passenger list for a train — typically 4 hours before departure. Waitlisted tickets either confirm into vacated seats or are auto-cancelled.
Chart preparation is the Indian Railways process of finalising the train’s passenger list before departure. It happens approximately 4 hours before the train’s scheduled departure from the originating station (the railway calls this the “first chart”); a second chart is sometimes prepared 30 minutes before departure to catch last-minute cancellations.
At the moment of chart preparation, the system processes all pending operations on that train: confirmed cancellations create vacancies, the waitlist clears in order (WL/1 confirms first, then WL/2, and so on), and any remaining waitlisted passengers have their tickets auto-cancelled with refund initiated. RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) passengers may upgrade to confirmed berths if more vacancies open up.
For practical planning, chart preparation is the decision deadline you have to track. Before chart preparation, the ticket status is fluid — waitlist positions move, RAC may upgrade. After chart preparation, the status is locked. If you are still on waitlist at chart preparation, the ticket is cancelled and refunded automatically (no action needed); if you are RAC, you can board with a shared berth; if Confirmed, your seat is final. Tools like ConfirmTkt provide a final-status prediction in the hours leading up to chart preparation so you can decide whether to wait or book a backup.