Wagon numbering system in India

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(Not to be confused with British carriage and wagon numbering and classification which is commonly called the carriage numbering system)

A new wagon numbering system was adopted in Indian Railways in 2003.^[1]Wagons are allocated 11 digits, ^[2] making it easy for identification and computerization of a wagon's information. 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 digitsEdit

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

Open wagonEdit

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

Covered wagonEdit

Code allotted is from 30 to 39

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

Tank wagonEdit

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 wagonEdit

Code allotted is from 55 to 69

Code allotted	Type of Wagon
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 wagonEdit

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 wagonEdit

Code allotted is from 80 to 84

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

Brake vanEdit

For Brake Van code allotted is from 85 to 89

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

Third & fourth digitsEdit

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 digitsEdit

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

Seventh to tenth digitsEdit

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 digitEdit

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 codeEdit

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