Career Prospects with Indian Railways

There are various departments in the railways, which are categorised into two broad areas, technical and non-technical services.

The non-technical services, which handle transportation and commercial matters, the accounting and finance section of the railways, the personnel and the security of railway property, include

• Indian Railway Traffic Service Group A (IRTS)
• Indian Railway Accounts Service Group A (IRAS)
• Indian Railway Personnel Service Group A (IRPS)
• Indian Railway Protection Force Group A (IRPF)
• Railway Board Secretariat Service Group B

In technical services, employees include engineers in the railways who look after maintenance of diesel locomotives, rolling stock of railway wagons and goods carriages, as also drivers of engines etc.

The options here are:

• Indian Railway Service of Engineers (civil)
• Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers
• Indian Railway Service of Signal and Telecommunication Engineers
• Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers

There is also the Indian Railway Stores Service and the Indian Railway Medical Service.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts open competitive examinations for recruitment to all gazetted posts in the railway services. Recruitment to all services is through examinations conducted by the UPSC.

You need to be a graduate in any stream, and between 21 to 30 years old to be eligible. To apply for the technical services, you must possess an engineering degree or its equivalent to take the Combined Engineering Services Examination held in early July every year. Other conditions remain the same as for the Civil Services Examination.

A separate examination is conducted in August every year for the recruitment of mechanical engineers, called the Special Class Railway Apprentices. These candidates, aged 17 to 21, are selected at the pre-graduate level (10+2 with physics or chemistry and maths) and have to undergo practical and theoretical training given by the railways at the Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, at Jamalpur. Those who enter this service constitute the top rung of the mechanical wing of Indian Railways.

One must clear the Combined Medical Services Examination to enter the Indian Railway Medical Service.

The eligibility requirement for this service is an MBBS degree, and the upper age limit for the candidates is 30 years.

Recruitment to the railway services is open to both men and women. All salary grades for officers of the railways are fixed by the Government of India and follow the pattern of other civil services.

Author: Usha Albuquerque (HT Horizons)

Date: 1st April, 2011

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