The Ministry of Railways has received approval from the Ministry of Finance to fill 5,664 posts across various operational and supervisory categories, even as plans are under way to abolish/ surrender 10,939 posts in lower-level cadres, according to senior officials.
The newly sanctioned posts include Junior Engineers, Senior Section Engineers in civil, electrical, mechanical, and signal & telecom departments, besides Station Masters, Station Superintendents, Chief Commercial-cum-Ticket Supervisors, Commercial Superintendents and Depot Material Superintendents. These positions are expected to strengthen technical, operational and passenger-service functions across the railway network as per the official notification issued last month.
At the same time, the Railways has proposed the abolition of 10,939 posts that are considered redundant or less relevant in the changing operational environment. The categories identified for surrender include Junior Stenographers, Running Room Cooks, Drivers, Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerks, Helpers in various departments, AC Coach Attendants, Housekeeping Attendants and several other posts.
The recruitment to the newly created posts will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, around 50% of the sanctioned posts, or 2,832 positions, will be filled along with 21,978 existing vacancies. The second phase of recruitment will be taken up after 80% of these vacancies are filled, said the notification.
The Railways has also said that station masters posts will be notified separately through a centralised employment notification and selection will be based on computer-based tests for those with graduation qualification.
Meanwhile, general secretary of SCRES-South Central Rail Employees Sangh and South Coast Railway Employees Sangh, M. Raghavaiah expressed concern over the absence of additional posts for maintaining newly-created railway assets over the past decade.
He said Indian Railways has significantly expanded its infrastructure by adding thousands of kilometres of new railway lines, electrifying almost the entire broad-gauge network and introducing modern semi-high-speed trains but corresponding manpower has not been created to support these developments.
The growing gap between infrastructure expansion and staff strength is placing existing employees under considerable stress, potentially affecting operations, maintenance and safety, said Mr. Raghaviah and pointed out that the issue had been repeatedly brought to the notice of the Railway Board.
Published – October 07, 2026 09:02 pm IST
