Difinition of PNR
A PNR is an abbreviated form of
Passenger Name Record (PNR) in the travel Industry. It is a record of the
itinerary for a passenger or group of passengers (travelling together) in the
database of a Computer Reservation System (CRS).
A PNR status is widely used term in
the travel industry including railways and airlines industry. The PNR was
initially introduced by airlines for exchanging reservation information in case
of passengers who require flights of multiple airlines to complete their
journey. The standards for interline messaging of PNR is defined by IATA and
ATA.
The introduction of PNRs was
originally intended for air travel. However, its usage has now spread across
the bookings of railways tickets, hotels, tours, car rentals, etc.
Indian Railways PNR
Indian Railways issues a 10 digit number written on the top left
corner of the ticket in combination of digits and characters. This is known as Passenger
Name Record abbreviated as PNR. It is an important number which keeps the
record of the travelers in the database of Computer Reservation System (CRS). This
number could be used to find the latest reservation status on the Indian
Railways website free of charge. Train reservation list is being updated 24*7 in a real
time manner in the database. Indian Railway website also provides various
other means of finding booking state by SMS or by Rail
Phone.
Alternative Methods to Find PNR Status
Apart from using IRCTC website for finding PNR status, one
could also check his reservation status through SMS. While seeking
information on PNR status, one simply has to write PNR (give space) (type PNR
number) and SMS to 139. The benefit of the SMS service is that passengers can
access information even on the move, the official said for instance, if a
passenger wants information about his train running behind schedule and the
expected arrival at the destination, he can type the station code or station name
along with his train number and SMS to 139.
