Wagon numbering system in India

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"Carriage numbering system" redirects here. For the rolling stock numbering system in the United Kingdom, see British carriage and wagon numbering and classification.

A new wagon numbering system was adopted in Indian Railways in 2003.[1] Wagons are allocated 11 digits, making it easy for identification and computerization of a wagon's information.[2] The first two digits indicate Type of Wagon, the third and fourth digits indicate Owning Railway, the fifth and sixth digits indicate Year of Manufacture, the seventh through tenth digits indicate Individual Wagon Number, and the last digit is a Check digit.

First two digits[]

These two digits indicate Type of Wagon.[3][4]

Open wagon[]

Code allotted is from 10 to 29

Code allotted Type of Wagon
10 BOXN[5]
11 BOXNHA
12 BOXNHS
13 BOXNCR
14 BOXNLW
15 BOXNB
16 BOXNF
17 BOXNG
18 BOY
19 BOST[6]
20 BOXNAL
21 BOSTHS
22 BOXNHL
24 BOXNS

Covered wagon[]

Code allotted is from 30 to 39

Code allotted Type of Wagon
30 BCNA[7]
31 BCNAHS
32 BCCNR[8]

Tank wagon[]

Code allotted is from 40 to 54

Code allotted Type of Wagon
40 BTPN[9]
41 BTPNHS
42 BTPGLN[10]
43 BTALN
44 BTCS[11]
45 BTPH
46 BTAP[12][13]
47 BTFLN[14][15]

Flat wagon[]

Code allotted is from 53 to 69

Code allotted Type of Wagon
53 BLCSA
54 BLCSB
55 BRNA[16]
56 BRNAHS
57 BFNS[17]
58 BOMN[18]
59 BRSTH
60 BFAT
61 BLCA[19]
62 BLCB[20]
63 BLLA[21]
64 BLLB[21]
65 BRS
66 BFU
67 BRHNEHS
68 BCL
69 BCLA

Hopper wagon[]

Code allotted is from 70 to 79

Code allotted Type of Wagon
70 BOBYN[22]
71 BOBYNHS
72 BOBRN[23]
73 BOBRNHS
74 BOBRAL
75 BOBSN

Well wagon[]

Code allotted is from 80 to 84

Code allotted Type of Wagon
80 BWTB
81 MBWT
82 DBKM
83 MBWZ

Brake van[]

For Brake Van code allotted is from 85 to 89

Code allotted Type of Wagon
85 BVZC
86 BVZI[24]
87 BVCM

Third & fourth digits[]

These two digits indicate the owning railway.

Code allotted Owning Railway
01 Central Railway Zone
02 Eastern Railway Zone
03 Northern Railway Zone
04 North Eastern Railway Zone
05 Northeast Frontier Railway Zone
06 Southern Railway Zone
07 South Eastern Railway Zone
08 Western Railway Zone
09 South Central Railway Zone
10 East Central Railway Zone
11 North Western Railway Zone
12 East Coast Railway Zone
13 North Central Railway Zone
14 South East Central Railway Zone
15 South Western Railway Zone
16 West Central Railway Zone
24 Wagons owned by Defence
25 Wagons owned by CONCOR
26 Wagons owned by other private parties

Fifth & sixth digits[]

These two digits indicate the last two digits of the year of manufacture
For example,
08 for 2008
15 for 2015

Seventh to tenth digits[]

These digits indicate Individual Wagon Number. This is a running serial number from 0001 to 9999.

  • Numbers 0001 to 0999 are departmental stock.
  • Numbers 1000 to 9999 are for other traffics stock.

Last digit[]

This is a Check digit.
The Check Digit for each wagon is calculated using a six-step algorithm as indicated below. Let the wagon number be C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11. (C1 is the first digit, C2 is the second digit, and so on)
Step 1 : Starting from the left, add all the Characters in the even position. S1 = C2 + C4 + C6 + C8 + C10
Step 2 : Multiply the sum by 3 to get 3×S1
Step 3 : Starting from the left.. add all the Characters in the odd position. S2 = C1 + C3 + C5 + C7 + C9
Step 4 : Add the sum of step 2 to the sum of step 3 to get S4= 3×S1+S2
Step 5 : Round this total up to the next multiple of 10.
Step 6 : The check digit is the number required to the added to round up to the next multiple of 10

An example for the calculation,[25]
Let the wagon number is 31101695215
Step 1 : S1 = C2 + C4 + C6 + C8 + C10 = 1+0+6+5+1 = 13
Step 2 : 3 × S1 = 39
Step 3 : S2 = C1+ C3 + C5 + C7 + C9 = 3+1+1+9+2 = 16
Step 4 : S4= 3 × S1 + S2 = 39 + 16 = 55
Step 5 : Next 10th multiple of 55 = 60
Step 6 : Check digit = 60 - 55 = 5
Hence the eleventh digit is assigned as 5 for this particular wagon.

Abbreviations used for wagon type code[]

Gauge code[26]

M :- (prefix) MG
N :- (prefix) NG

Wagon type code

B :- (prefix) Bogie wagon (sometimes omitted)
BV :- Brake van
V :- Brake/parcel van (see above for brake van codes)
O :- Open wagon (gondola)
C :- Covered wagon (boxcar)
F :- Flat car
FK :- Flat car for container transport
FU :- Well wagon
LA :- Low flat car with standard buffer height
LB :- Low flat car with low buffer height
LAB :- Low flat car, one end with low buffers, the other with high buffers
R :- Rail-carrying wagon
T :- Tanker (additional letters indicate material carried)
U :- Well wagon
W :- Well wagon
K :- Open wagon: ballast / material / refuse transport (older wagons)
C :- Centre discharge
S :- Side discharge
R :- Rapid (forced) discharge, bottom discharge
X :- Both centre and side discharge
X :- (also) High sided
Y :- Low (medium) side walls
L :- Low sided
H :- Heavy load

The ‘B’ indication is sometimes omitted as all new wagons are bogie stock.

Following the type code in the classification code a letter may denote the type of coupler, nowadays optional, as all new freight cars are fitted with centre buffer couplers (CBC). An 'N' suffix is for 'pneumatic', or air-braked wagons. Most newer stock that is air-braked also has CBC couplers, so the 'C' is usually dropped. E.g., BOXN for air-braked BOX wagons, not BOXCN. Almost all the older stock is vacuum-braked.

Coupler, brake, and other suffixes

C :- Centre buffer coupler (CBC)
R :- Screw coupling only
T :- Transition coupler (CBC with additional side buffers and screw coupling)
N :- Air-braked
M :- (suffix) Military

References[]

  1. ^ "Circular by Ministry of Railways" (PDF). 4 July 2003 – via Railway Board.
  2. ^ "ELEVEN DIGIT WAGON NUMBERING SYSTEM". trainguard.in. trainguard.in. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Types and definition of wagons".
  4. ^ "Types and definition of wagons 2".
  5. ^ "Bogie Open Type -BOXN primarily for transporting iron ore".
  6. ^ "Bogie Open Type -BOST primarily for transporting iron ore".
  7. ^ "Bogie Covered Type -BCNA primarily for transporting food grains or cement".
  8. ^ "Single-deck automobile carrier wagon".
  9. ^ "Petrol/Fuel Tank Wagon".
  10. ^ "LPG Tank Wagon".
  11. ^ "Caustic Soda Tank Wagon".
  12. ^ "Bogie Alumina Tank Wagon(BTAP)".
  13. ^ "BTAP design diagram" (PDF).
  14. ^ "New generation Bogie Frameless Tank (BTFLN) wagons".
  15. ^ "BTFLN design diagram" (PDF).
  16. ^ "BRNA Flat wagons for transporting rails etc".
  17. ^ "BFNS Flat Wagon used for carrying coil".
  18. ^ "Bogie Open Military Wagon" (PDF).
  19. ^ "BLC-A Container Flat Wagon".
  20. ^ "BLC-B Container Flat Wagon".
  21. ^ a b "Bogie Low Platform Longer Container Flat Wagon" (PDF).
  22. ^ "BOBYN Hopper Wagon primarily for carrying and discharging ballast".
  23. ^ "BOBRN Hopper Wagon primarily for transporting coal".
  24. ^ "Indian goods brake van with eight wheels (BVZI)".
  25. ^ "Example for the calculation of finding the check digit".
  26. ^ "IRFCA".
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