There are various department in the railways, which are categorized into two broad areas, technical & non-technical services.
The non-technical services, which handle transportation and commercial matters, the accounting & finance section of the Railways, the personnel & the security of railway property, include:
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:
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 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 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 agreed, aged 17 to 2, are selected at the pre-graduate level (10+2 with physics or chemistry and maths) and have to undergo practical & theoretical training given by the railways at the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical & 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 is 30 years.
Recruitment to the railway services is open to both men & women. All salary grades for officers of the railways are fixed by the Government of India and follow the pattern of other Civil services.
