RAC stands for Reservation Against Cancellation and is a type of ticket that can be sold for travel on the Indian Railways. It ensures certainty of travel but does not guarantee a berth. A berth will be allocated to the ticket holder who reserves an RAC ticket if passengers who already have a confirmed ticket do not board before the train departure or get their confirmed ticket cancelled. A berth is split into 2 seats for 2 RAC ticket holders. An RAC ticket holder is given an empty berth if there are any last-minute cancellations, if any quota remains unsold, or if any confirmed ticket holders are given a free upgrade according to seat availability in upper class. If this happens, the other RAC ticket holder can then convert the 2 seats into a berth. Generally, RAC/WL tickets will have two numbers - the first number shows the status of the ticket at the time of booking, and the second number after the slash (/) shows the current status of the ticket. If a confirmed passenger does not board the train, a full berth is allotted to the passenger with RAC ticket.

If you have an RAC ticket, you can travel in the respective coach, but you may have to share your berth with a co-passenger. Most of the side lower seats are to be shared with a co-passenger, but if there are some free seats available in the train, then the TTE of the train may allot you a complete seat. If you want a full berth for your journey, you can cancel RAC tickets with minimal cancellation charges. Any RAC ticket can be canceled up to 30 minutes before the departure of the train from the original station. No refund will be given if RAC tickets are canceled post minutes before the departure of the train from the original station. If the train is late more than 3 hours of the scheduled departure time, then full fare will be refunded to the passenger on the condition that the ticket was canceled before the departure of the train. If the train is canceled, then the whole fare amount will be refunded to the passenger without any cancellation charges.