Provision of seats for Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE), RPF, GRP and Conductors in the trains

Provision of seats for Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE), RPF, GRP and Conductors in the trains

Provision of seats for TTEs/Conductors in the trains-reg.

Ref: Railway Board’s letter no. 2003/TG-1/20/P/2 dated 02/11/2025 (Commercial Circular No. 72 of 2025).

Kind attention is invited to the points raised by the NFIR in the opening address of the PNM meeting on 13/14th November, 2025 at Rail Bhavan, relating to provision of berths/seats to the conductors/TTEs. While referring the Commercial Circular No. 72/2025, the Federation has pointed out “that the said circular provides for one berth in 2AC and one berth in 3AC Coaches, whereas the composition of Mail/Express, Superfast Trains varies from 3-4 to 5-6-7-8 or 9-10 Coaches. The said Commercial Circular has not specified that when the composition of trains varies with the increase of Coaches, the berths are required to be earmarked for conductors/TTEs and in absence of clarity in Commercial Circular No. 72/2025, the Ticket Checking Staff manning AC Coaches are facing lot of inconvenience due to non-provision of earmarked berth/seat for them”.

It is however noticed that the Railway Board has not taken remedial measures by providing berths on the basis of composition of number of Coaches on Mail/Express and super fast trains.

NFIR once gain requests the Railway Board (AM/Commercial) to kindly get the matter checked up for the purpose of providing one berth out of two AC Coaches for the conductors/TTEs and accordingly issue clarificatory instructions to the Zonal Railway soon.

(COMMERCIAL CIRCULAR NO. 7 OF 2025)

Sub: Earmarking of accommodation for GRP/RPF in trains.

Please refer to this office letter of even number dated 03.01,2014 (CC No. 01 of 2025) on the subject quoted above wherein it was inter-alia informed that berth no. 71 in coach no. SI should be earmarked for GRP/RPF/Escorting staff.

2. The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided that instead of berth no. 71, berth no. 63 in coach no. SI should be earmarked for GRP/RPF/Escorting staff

3. Necessary instructions may be issued to all concerned.

Here’s the official guideline regarding provision of seats for staff onboard Indian trains, including TTEs (Travelling Ticket Examiners), Conductors, and security personnel (RPF/GRP):

Official Railway Board Directive (Commercial Circular No. 72 of 2017)

The Railway Board has mandated specific berths and seats to be reserved across various train types and accommodation classes:

1. Sleeper Trains (Mail/Express) – Leg-wise Manning

Conductor (1A / 2A / First-Class): Berth No. 5 in A-1 coach.
TTE (3A / 3E): Berth No. 7 in B-1 (or BE-1) coach.
TTE (Sleeper Class): Berth No. 7 in alternate sleeper coaches.

2. Premium Trains (Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, etc.) – End-to-End Manning

Train Superintendent (1A / 2A): Berth No. 5 in A-1 coach.
Deputy Superintendent (2A / 3A / 3E): Berth No. 7 in B-1, B-3, B-5, B-7 or BE-1, BE-4, BE-7 / G-1, G-3, G-5, G-7 (for Garib Rath).

3. Day Trains with Seating (Shatabdi-type) – End-to-End Manning

TS / Dy. TS: Seat No. 1 in C-1, C-3, C-5, C-7 coaches.
Train Superintendent: Adjacent seat to the Executive Class coach.

4. Intercity Trains with Seating – Leg-wise Manning

TTE (Second Class): Seat No. 1 in every alternate Second Class coach.
TTE (Chair Car): Seat No. 1 in alternate Chair Car coach.
Composite Coaches: Seat No. 1 in the sitting portion is earmarked.

5. Security Personnel (RPF / GRP)

Reserved berth: One side lower berth (No. 63) in S1 Sleeper coach.
Earmarked only if RPF or GRP is escorting. If not, no berth is reserved.

Why This Matters

It ensures rapid availability of staff for ticket checks and security assistance.
Helps passenger identification of TTEs and security personnel during the journey.
Unused reserved seats may be released for general booking if not occupied by the assigned staff.

Summary Table

Personnel	Train Type	Reserved Berth/Seat
Conductor	1A / 2A / 1st Class	Berth No. 5, A-1 coach
TTE (3A / 3E)	Mail/Express	Berth No. 7, B-1 / BE-1
TTE (Sleeper Class)	Sleeper Train	Berth No. 7, alternate sleeper coach
TS / Dy. TS	Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto trains	Berth No. 5, A-1 coach; Seat No. 1, specified seat coaches
TTE (Seating Trains)	Intercity / Chair Car trains	Seat No. 1 in alternate coaches
RPF / GRP	Sleeper train with escort	Side lower berth No. 63, S1 coach

Let me know if you’d like this with visual coach map examples or how these reserved seats are handled operationally on-board!