Railway Jobs: Perk Up Your Life

The Indian Railway network, a legacy of the British Colonial rule is the largest in the world. Is it any wonder that the Indian Railways is the biggest single job-provider in the world? As a Government of India

Undertaking, railway jobs are amongst the most sought after in India.

The Indian Railways network is divided into 17 zones to facilitate administration. The zones are under the jurisdiction of a General Manager (GM) who is directly answerable to the Railway Board.  These zones are further divided into divisions that come under the control of the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). The officers reporting to the DRM are from the various departments under his jurisdiction namely the engineering divisions and operating safety department etc. The duties of these officers involve operation and maintenance of assets. The number of divisions under each zone varies from three to six depending on the size of the zone. In all there are 68 divisions. Each division has its own divisional headquarters.
Railway jobs are divided into 4 basic groups – Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D. Employees belonging to Group A and Group B are gazette officers.

The Railways selects its officers into Railway job Group A through the UPSC exams.

To get a railway job, you need to appear for one of these three exams conducted by the UPSC.

• Civil Services Exam
• Engineering Services Exam
• Medical Services Exam

Services that come under the Civil Service Exam are,

1. Indian Railway traffic Service.
2. Indian Railway Accounts service
3. Indian Railway Personnel service
4. Railway Protection Force

Services that come under the Engineering Services Exam are,

1. Indian Railway Service of Engineers
2. Indian Railway Stores Service
3. Indian Railway Service of mechanical Engineers
4. Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers
5. Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers

Doctors on the look-out for a railway job do it through Medical services Exam.

The age limit for appearing for the UPSC Exams is 30. The candidate must be a graduate. Final year students too can apply.

There is no special recruitment to job Group B.  Staff under the job group B, are generally those promoted from Group C.

Recruiting employees for job Groups C and D falls under the umbrella of the Railway Recruitment Board. For applying, you have look out for advertisements placed in the Employment News, a Government of India publication, various other newspapers and the internet. The dates for the written preliminary examination are intimated to the eligible candidates through post and also posted on their official website.  If the number of candidates who get through this exam is very large, then a main exam is conducted. Selection is based entirely on the results of the main exam. There are no interviews. But candidates selected to the operational safety category are required to undergo a psychometric test. Final selection is based on how they fare here.  All shortlisted candidates have to undergo medical test before they are finally selected to a railway job under Group C and Group D. Average selections to Group C per year is 200.

One of the many perks of a railway job is, you don’t have to worry about a lay-off.

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