Overview
- The Railway Board, which began intensive deliberations on Friday, November 13, 2026, is weighing reforms to the Reservation Against Cancellation system that lets two passengers occupy one side-lower berth while both pay full fare.
- Options under consideration include scrapping RAC entirely, issuing partial refunds to unupgraded RAC travellers, changing berth-sharing rules, or using dynamic allocation to reduce shared berths.
- Passengers and consumer groups have repeatedly raised privacy, comfort and safety concerns, especially when unrelated men and women are paired on the same berth, and train ticket examiners report limited on-board alternatives.
- Any reform would need changes to reservation software, fare policy and on-board procedures, and could affect revenue, how tickets are allocated before chart preparation and the timing of berth upgrades.
- RAC began as a manual-era workaround to fill berths after cancellations; the debate now centers on whether that legacy practice still makes sense given computerized reservations and current passenger expectations.