Scope for Work is Enormous

Vikas Boora, 26, completed his masters in civil engineering in 2007 from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He joined the Indian Railways (IR) after an 18-month training stint with them - a dream come true because he had "always been fascinated by the efficiency and scale of service provided by the Railways to its customers."

The one thing that he loves about his profession is "the diverse nature of the job responsibilities" he has. He has to look after the maintenance of railway track infrastructure, railway colonies and station buildings. "The components of a rail track include rails, sleepers etc, which undergo wear and tear over time. Their upkeep and renewal form the basic part of our job," says Boora.

"The Indian Railways form an integral part of the Indian transport system, daily carrying millions of passengers and an enormous quantum of freight," says Boora.

IR comprises 16 zonal railways, further segmented into divisions. There are a number of departments in the Railways, such as accounts, commercial, civil, electrical, mechanical and signalling and telecommunication engineering, medical, operations, personnel, safety, security, stores etc. It has over 64,000 km of tracks laid across the country.

Given the magnitude of its operations, a railway engineer's scope of work is enormous. It can be broadly classified into two types, says Boora. One is creation of new assets and technologies, while the other is maintenance of existing infrastructure.

Recruitments for both take place from all branches of engineering - civil, electrical, electronics and telecommunications and mechanical. All of these have their separate specialised domains of work and play equally significant roles in the functioning of the system. "Every railway engineer is overall in-charge of manpower, budgeting, planning etc for his jurisdiction," says Sanjeev Kumar, senior divisional signalling and telecommunication engineer, Delhi division.

"Railways engineers are recruited at two levels - supervisor level and direct officer level," Boora points out. While supervisors, designated as section engineers, are recruited through the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), direct recruitment to officer level is conducted through the Indian Engineering Service (IES) examination conducted by the UPSC. In both cases, recruitment is through a written test followed by an interview. All engineering graduates are eligible.

IR meets its need of engineers through regular recruitment drives. "Railways is a vertically integrated organisation and produces substantial recruitment internally," says Rajesh Aggarwal, chief engineer, Mass Rapid Transit System, Northern Railways. However, the most interesting aspect of an engineer's job in the Railways is "that it provides one the chance to work as a technocrat, a manager and an administrator, at the same time," says Boora.

Work of course has its challenges. "One has to learn to reduce avoidable errors," says Aggarwal, "a substantial part of which includes human error. Technology is the only answer."

Providing technological solutions is the task of an engineer. For Boora, the "biggest challenge we face today is meeting the fast-rising expectations of our customers with respect to speed, safety and reliability." Moreover, the Railways face steep competition from other modes of transport.

"Railway engineers have to contribute by providing financially viable technical innovations," says Boora. These very challenges make a railway engineer's job unique.

Career: Railway Engineer