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Indian Railways offers different types of travel classes on its coaches, with different patterns of seating or berths, depending on the class of travel.
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Accommodation Types
The following class-accommodation combinations have been created for the system. The following table lists the classes in operation. Not all classes may be attached to a rake though.
Classification of berths
Berths are classified as follows:
This is applicable to the Broad Gauge coaches,however on the Metre Gauge, coaches don't have side berths (SLB, SMB & SUB). While the Narrow Gauge coaches don't have sleeper berths.
Indian Railways is mostly composed of (Indian) Broad Gauge, while the already less Meter Gauge is being phased out, with mostly undergoing a Gauge Conversion, to the Broad Gauge. A remaining exception will be the Narrow Gauge rail. Two of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.
On Broad Gauge trains, there would normally be 64 seats/berths for 3 tier AC coaches (3A) and 72 seats/berths for 3 tier Sleeper coaches (SL) with the coaches having four entrances two each on either sides of the coach at their ends. These coaches would display the seat/berth numbers painted just above each of their windows that would be in alignment to that particular window. The Higher classes have reduction in their seating/berth capacity, for passenger comfort, based on their class respectively. New LHB rakes have 72 seats/berths for 3 tier AC coaches (3A).
Middle berths are found in AC 3-tier Economy class coaches (3E), these coaches are meant for not so well off people, who desire a comfortable travel at lesser fare.
The "second sitting" have 108 seats but with two additional entrances right in the middle of the coaches on their either sides. Therefore these coaches have six entrances.