What are the two WL (waitlist) numbers on the ticket ?

Getting oriented in your ticket and WL numbers…

On your ticket, there are 2 numbers. They tell you the position you joined the waitlist and your current position – in this order.

Let´s have an example:
You are booking a ticket online (Indian Railways , Irctc , etc… ) You found what you wanted, your train – class – seat / berth and the date and time. At the end of the reservation you buy a ticket with WL5/WL2.

In this example you joined the WL on the position 5 and before you actually bought the ticket online you already moved to 2nd position (due to someone else´s cancellation – or better to say they didn´t make a final booking). The first number will stay the same – it indicates when you JOINED the queue ! The second number will decrease until you get a ticket (hopefully)

Your booking could look like any of this :

WL 5/WL 2 (this is your starting position)
WL 5/WL 1
WL 5/RAC 3
WL 5/RAC 2
WL 5/RAC 1
WL 5/CNF

WL 5 / WL 2 = waitlisted ticket, you cannot board the train
WL 5 / RAC 3 = RAC ticket, you are allowed to board the train , but you may end up on a seat instead of a berth.
WL 5 / CNF = confirmed ticket, you can board the train and you have a berth for yourself.