Indian Railways Recruitment Underway for 1.62 Lakh Vacancies; 17,803 Posts Notified in 2026

The Ministry of Railways has informed Parliament that recruitment against 1,61,889 vacancies of non-gazetted personnel is currently being undertaken across Indian Railways under the Annual Recruitment Calendars for 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The Government has also disclosed that 5.56 lakh candidates have been recruited by Indian Railways from 2014-15 to 2026-27, up to June 30, 2026, compared with 4.11 lakh recruitments during the ten-year period from 2004-05 to 2013-14.

The details were provided by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 506 on July 22, 2026, concerning recruitment and the status of vacancies in the Railways.

Recruitment Underway Against 1,61,889 Vacancies

According to the Ministry, occurrence and filling up of vacancies is a continuous process in Indian Railways due to the organisation’s size, geographical spread and operational requirements.

Vacancies are primarily taken up for recruitment based on indents placed by the Railways with recruitment agencies, taking into account operational and technological requirements.

A major change in the recruitment system was introduced in 2024, when the Ministry of Railways started publishing an Annual Calendar for recruitment to various categories of Group ‘C’ posts.

The Ministry said the annual calendar is intended to provide candidates with more opportunities, allow newly eligible candidates to participate every year, provide greater certainty regarding examinations, and facilitate faster recruitment, training and appointments.

At present, recruitment against 1,61,889 non-gazetted vacancies has been taken up under the Annual Calendars for 2024, 2025 and 2026.

92,116 Railway Vacancies Notified During 2024

During January-December 2024, Indian Railways issued 10 Centralised Employment Notifications (CENs) covering 92,116 vacancies.

The recruitment covered several major categories, including:

• Assistant Loco Pilots (ALPs)
• Technicians
• RPF Sub-Inspectors and Constables
• Junior Engineers (JEs)
• Depot Material Superintendents (DMS)
• Chemical & Metallurgical Assistants (CMA)
• Paramedical Categories
• NTPC Graduate and Undergraduate posts
• Ministerial and Isolated Categories
• Level-1 posts including Assistants, Track Maintainers and Pointsman

The first-stage or single-stage Computer Based Tests for all 92,116 posts have been completed.

Major Vacancies Covered Under 2024 Recruitment

Recruitment category	Vacancies
Assistant Loco Pilot	18,799
Technician	14,298
JE/DMS/CMA	7,951
RPF Sub-Inspector	452
RPF Constable	4,208
Paramedical Categories	1,376
NTPC Graduate	8,113
NTPC Undergraduate	3,445
Ministerial & Isolated Categories	1,036
Level-1 Posts	32,438
Total	92,116

The scale of the recruitment exercise has been substantial. According to the Ministry, the first-stage and single-stage CBTs across these categories involved a combined 3,58,59,270 candidate appearances.

The Level-1 examination alone accounted for over 1.08 crore candidate appearances, while more than 63 lakh candidates appeared for the NTPC Undergraduate first-stage CBT.

Second-stage CBTs have also been completed for Assistant Loco Pilot, JE/DMS/CMA and NTPC Graduate and Undergraduate posts.

Computer Based Aptitude Tests and skill tests required for various ALP, NTPC and Ministerial & Isolated categories have also been conducted.

Panels for Over 3,300 Candidates Finalised in 2026-27

The Ministry further informed Parliament that during 2026-27, up to June 30, 2026, panels for more than 3,300 candidates have been finalised.

These include candidates selected for various posts such as:

Technicians, Junior Engineers, Paramedical Categories, Ministerial & Isolated Categories and Assistant Loco Pilots.

The Government noted that the majority of these candidates are in safety categories.

51,970 Vacancies Notified Under 2025 Recruitment Calendar

Under the Annual Calendar for 2025, the Railways issued nine Centralised Employment Notifications covering 51,970 vacancies.

CEN	Post	Vacancies
01/2025	Assistant Loco Pilots	10,970
02/2025	Technician	6,238
03/2025	Paramedical Categories	434
04/2025	Section Controller	368
05/2025	JE/DMS/CMA	2,585
06/2025	NTPC Graduate	5,810
07/2025	NTPC Undergraduate	3,058
08/2025	Isolated Categories	312
09/2025	Level-1 Posts	22,195
Total		51,970

Of these, first-stage or single-stage CBTs covering 29,775 posts have already been completed.

The examinations for these recruitment categories involved more than 90.96 lakh candidate appearances. Second-stage CBTs for JE/DMS/CMA and NTPC Graduate posts have also been completed.

In addition, the Computer Based Aptitude Test for the 368 Section Controller vacancies has been completed.

17,803 Railway Vacancies Notified Under 2026 Calendar

Recruitment has continued under the 2026 Annual Calendar, with three CENs covering a further 17,803 vacancies already issued.

CEN	Post	Vacancies	Notification
01/2026	Assistant Loco Pilots	11,127	March 2026
02/2026	Technician	6,557	May 2026
03/2026	Section Controller	119	June 2026
Total		17,803

Assistant Loco Pilot recruitment accounts for the largest share of the vacancies notified so far under the 2026 calendar, followed by Technician posts.

5.56 Lakh Railway Recruitments Since 2014-15

The Government also provided a longer-term comparison of recruitment in Indian Railways.

Period	Recruitments
2004-05 to 2013-14	4.11 lakh
2014-15 to 2026-27, up to June 30, 2026	5.56 lakh

This indicates that the Railways has recruited about 1.45 lakh more candidates during the latter period than during 2004-05 to 2013-14.

Railways Highlights Transparency in RRB Examinations

Addressing the issue of RRB examinations, the Ministry said Railway Recruitment Board examinations are technically complex and require large-scale mobilisation of personnel and resources, along with training of manpower.

The Railways stated that recruitment examinations have been successfully conducted in a transparent manner while following the prescribed guidelines.

Significantly, the Government told Parliament that no instance of paper leakage or similar malpractice occurred during the recruitment process.

Annual Recruitment Calendar Aims to Speed Up Appointments

The introduction of the annual recruitment calendar represents an important change in the way Railway recruitment exercises are planned.

Instead of recruitment being viewed only as individual vacancy-filling exercises, the annual calendar provides candidates with a more predictable recruitment cycle and is intended to speed up examinations, training and appointments.

With recruitment already initiated against 1.61 lakh non-gazetted vacancies, along with 17,803 vacancies notified under the 2026 calendar, a substantial number of Railway recruitment processes are currently at different stages of notification, examination, selection and appointment.

The latest Parliamentary reply also indicates that recruitment is continuing across major operational and technical categories, including Assistant Loco Pilots, Technicians, Junior Engineers, NTPC posts, Level-1 positions, paramedical staff and Section Controllers.

View PQ: