3,548 Railway Vacancies for Indian Graduates, Basic Pay From Rs 29,200 and Applications Close November 6

Graduates in India can now apply for 3,548 vacancies for various Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) graduate-level posts across the Indian Railways under Centralised Employment Notification No. 06/2026. Online applications open on October 8 and close on November 6, 2026, up to 11:59 p.m., and the initial pay ranges from ₹29,200 to ₹35,400 for posts placed under Pay Level 5 and Pay Level 6 of the 7th Central Pay Commission. For Metaintro readers with a degree, the useful detail is in the notice itself, covering which board to pick, who is eligible, what the two tests look like, and which rules can end an application early.

What Exactly Did the Railway Recruitment Boards Notify?

The Railway Recruitment Boards under the Ministry of Railways released the detailed notice for graduate-level Non-Technical Popular Categories posts, and it appears as a Notification dated 07-10-2026 on the RRB Ranchi page of the unified board website. The full PDF was released on 7th October at the official website, and applications are made through the link on rrbapply.gov.in.

An indicative notice appeared in Employment News on 26.09.2026, and the detailed notice now carries 3,548 posts, compared with the earlier tentative figure of 3,477.

Even that total can move. The vacancies are provisional and may increase or decrease or may even become NIL in total or in specific communities/units at a later stage, depending upon the actual needs of the Railway Administration concerned, and additional posts if required by the Railway(s) may also be included at a later stage. A revised vacancy table will be published if the numbers change.

Which Four Posts Are in This Notice, and What Do They Pay?

The notice covers four posts, all with a confirmed age limit of 18 to 33 years as on 1st January 2027.

• Goods Train Manager, with 2,750 vacancies, at Level 5 and an initial basic pay of Rs 29,200.
• Senior Clerk cum Typist, with 371 vacancies, also at Level 5 and Rs 29,200.
• Junior Accounts Assistant cum Typist, with 300 vacancies, also at Level 5 and Rs 29,200.
• Chief Commercial cum Ticket Supervisor, with 127 vacancies, at Level 6 and Rs 35,400.

Goods Train Manager is set at pay level 5 with an initial pay of 29200 rupees in Annexure A, the post-wise parameters table. The Rs 29,200 and Rs 35,400 figures are starting basic pay, and selected candidates are also eligible for allowances such as Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance and other benefits as applicable under Railway rules.

Station Master is not one of the four posts listed in the CEN 06/2026 notice, so it cannot be selected on this form, and Station Master and Traffic Assistant are not included in the 2026 Graduate recruitment.

Training can come before full pay. Selected candidates will have to undergo training wherever prescribed and only stipend will be paid during the training period.

Who Is Eligible to Apply?

Every post needs a degree from a recognized university or its equivalent, and you must hold it as on the last date for submission of ONLINE application.

Candidates waiting for final results of prescribed educational qualifications are NOT eligible to apply, according to the CEN notice on the official RRB website.

The age range is 18 to 33 years, with the age calculated as on January 1, 2027. In date-of-birth terms, an unreserved or EWS candidate must be not born after 01.01.2009 and born no earlier than 02.01.1994.

The upper limit is relaxed for several groups, and the relaxations listed in the notice, which apply subject to submission of requisite certificates, include these.

• SC and ST candidates get 5 Years and OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) candidates get 3 Years.
• Persons with Benchmark Disabilities get 10 Years for UR and EWS, 13 Years for OBC(NCL) and 15 Years for SC and ST.
• Serving Group C and erstwhile Group D Railway staff with minimum three years' service, as well as Substitutes with minimum 3 years' service in continuous or in broken spells, can apply up to 40 Years of age for UR and EWS, 43 for OBC (NCL) and 45 for SC and ST.
• Ex-servicemen with at least six months of continuous service after attestation get 3 years for UR and EWS, 6 years for OBC-NCL and 8 years for SC and ST, after deduction of length of service from age.
• Candidates working in quasi-administrative offices of the Railway organization, such as Railway canteens, co-operative societies and institutes, get relaxation up to the length of service rendered OR 5 years, whichever is less.
• Women who are widowed, divorced or judicially separated from their husband and not remarried can apply up to 35 years of age for UR and EWS, 38 for OBC (NCL) and 40 for SC and ST.

Relaxations do not stack. A candidate eligible on more than one ground will get the maximum amongst the relaxations for which he/she is eligible (not cumulative). There is also a catch for reserved candidates, since SC, ST & OBC (NCL) candidates applying against UR vacancies will not be eligible to get any age relaxation. In the same way, PwBD candidates applying against UR vacancies will be allowed age relaxation applicable for PwBD (UR) only, subject to conditions of suitability.

Not every post is open to PwBD candidates, and Goods Train Manager is marked not suitable for any benchmark disability category in Annexure A, the table where the suitability or otherwise of a post for PwBD has been indicated against each post.

Which Regional Boards Have the Most Vacancies?

Candidates can apply to only one RRB, so the regional split matters. The boards with the largest totals in the RRB-wise vacancy table in Annexure B are these.

• RRB Bilaspur, with 542 vacancies.
• RRB Ranchi, with 377 vacancies.
• RRB Bengaluru, with 346 vacancies.
• RRB Kolkata, with 332 vacancies.
• RRB Ajmer, with 304 vacancies.

Some boards have very few seats. RRB Ahmedabad lists 19 vacancies and RRB Thiruvananthapuram lists 25.

By category, the vacancies split into 1,517 UR, 553 SC, 300 ST, 873 OBC-NCL and 305 EWS. Category counts vary by board in the Annexure B table, so it pays to check your own category's row for each board before choosing.

The choice of board also shapes where you work for years. A request for transfer to another Railway is not registered till the newly appointed candidate completes at least 5 to 10 years of service, and candidates are thus advised to choose their RRB with due care and consideration. A Competent Authority can still transfer the railway servant to any other department or Railway establishment in the exigencies of service.

How Do You Apply, and What Does It Cost?

Applications are submitted online through the link on rrbapply.gov.in. If you created an account for an earlier RRB notice, you should use the same login credentials to apply, and details in the Create an Account form, including the mobile number and email ID, cannot be changed later. Candidates are strongly advised to authenticate their identity using Digi Locker or Aadhaar during account creation.

The process ends with uploading documents, paying the fee and submitting, and you should download the confirmation page for future reference.

The fee depends on category.

• All candidates except concessional categories pay ₹500, with ₹400 refunded after deduction of applicable bank charges on appearing in the first-stage test.
• SC, ST, Ex-Servicemen, PwBD, female, transgender, minority and Economically Backward Class candidates pay ₹250, with ₹250 refunded after deduction of applicable bank charges on appearing in the first-stage test.

The EBC concession should not be confused with OBC or EWS, and it needs a valid EBC certificate, BPL card, Izzat MST or a certificate issued by the Central Government under a recognized poverty alleviation programme issued on or before the closing date of application, or the candidature is liable to be rejected.

Refunds go only to people who sit the first exam, and the refund will be processed to an Aadhaar-seeded bank account. No refund of examination fee shall be admissible in cases of rejected applications or where the Aadhaar-seeded bank account linked by the candidate is found to be non-operational. The fee must be paid by November 8, 2026, and a modification window runs from 9 to 18 November 2026 at ₹250 per modification occasion, and the Chosen RRB cannot be changed in that window.

One rule can end every application at once.

Multiple applications to different RRBs or same RRB, will lead to rejection of all the applications, according to the notice on the RRB application portal.

What Does the Selection Process Look Like Now?

Selection runs through CBT 1, CBT 2, Document Verification and Medical Examination. The typist posts no longer carry a skill test, since the Typing Skill Test has been dispensed with for Senior Clerk cum Typist and Junior Accounts Assistant cum Typist, but typing still matters, because their proficiency will be assessed after joining, and unsatisfactory performance may affect / delay their confirmation or promotion.

The first test consists of 100 questions for 100 marks and is conducted for 90 minutes, with a split of General Awareness 40, Mathematics 30 and General Intelligence and Reasoning 30. That split is only indicative and there may be some variations in the actual question papers, and the test runs 120 minutes for PwBD/PwD candidates who are eligible for use of a scribe. It is a screening test, and the number shortlisted for the next stage shall be 15 times the community wise vacancies of posts notified against the RRB, though Railways reserve the right to increase/decrease this limit in total or for any specific category(s).

The second test consists of 120 questions for 120 marks, also in 90 minutes, or 120 minutes for PwBD/PwD candidates who are eligible for use of a scribe. Both carry a negative marking scheme of 1/3 marks for each wrong answer, and the minimum qualifying marks are UR-40%, EWS- 40%, OBC (Non creamy layer) - 30%, SC-30%, ST-25%. These marks also apply to Ex-Serviceman and PwBD candidates as per their community, and they may be relaxed by 2 Marks for PwBD candidates in case of shortage of PwBD candidates against vacancies reserved for them.

After the second test, candidates equal to the number of vacancies will be called for document verification (1:1). Questions are available in English, Hindi and 13 regional Indian languages, and dates for the CBTs, Document Verification and other notices will be communicated from time to time on the board website.

What Happens After You Clear Both Tests?

Clearing the tests does not guarantee a job. The boards only recommend names of empaneled candidates to the Railway Administrations concerned, and the offer of appointment is issued by the zonal railway, subject to availability of vacancies and satisfying all eligibility criteria including antecedents of character.

Ties are broken by age. When two or more candidates secure equal marks, the older candidate shall be given higher merit than the younger candidate, and if age is also the same, the alphabetical order of the given name decides.

The order in which you rank posts matters too. Posts and zones are allotted based on merit, post preference, medical fitness and vacancy availability on the date of panel preparation, and once a post is allotted, candidates forfeit the right to be considered for any other post/category within that Pay Level. A candidate who gives no option for a post is treated as unwilling for the same.

A few conditions follow appointment. Those finally appointed are liable for active service in Railway Engineers’ Unit of Territorial Army, and selected candidates shall execute Security and/or Indemnity Bond wherever necessary at the time of joining. SC and ST candidates who opt for it get a Free Sleeper Class Railway Pass for travel to the selection stages.

What Medical Standards Apply to Each Post?

Each post has a medical category, and a candidate who fails it will not be considered for empanelment for the post(s). A candidate who fails the initial medical may be offered one last and final opportunity to prefer Medical Appeal on payment of prescribed charges, with laid down conditions. Goods Train Manager is A2 in the vacancy table. The A-2 standard asks for Distant Vision: 6/9, 6/9 without glasses (No fogging test) and Near Vision: Sn: 0.6, 0.6 without glasses, and candidates must pass tests for colour, binocular, night and myopic vision. Candidates must also be physically fit in all respects, and the medical standards are indicative, not exhaustive.

Eye surgery is a deciding factor. Candidates who have had Lasik surgery or any other surgery procedure to correct refractory error are not eligible for the post having Medical Standard A-2, which in this notice is Goods Train Manager. The ticket supervisor post sits at B2, and the two typist posts at C2, where candidates with corrective eye surgery are eligible for the post(s) having Medical Standard B-2, C-2 under conditions set by the Railway Board.

There is no alternative post if you fail. Candidates found medically unsuitable for the opted post(s) shall not be given any alternative appointment, so list only posts whose medical standard you can meet.

Is a Notice for Undergraduates Coming Too?

Yes, separately. The undergraduate short notice has been released under CEN 07/2026 for 1,688 tentative vacancies, with applications tentatively scheduled from 15 October to 13 November 2026. Those posts carry Level 2 & Level 3 pay, and the detailed notification for them is listed as awaited.

Other public-sector options for graduates include paid graduate apprenticeships at Canara Bank, and a separate guide explains the types of civil service jobs and how to choose a government career path.

What This Means for Graduate Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

Candidates can apply to only one board, and ONLY ONE online application is allowed, so the form carries rules that can end an application before any test is taken. Submission of more than one application by a candidate against this CEN shall result in disqualification and debarment from the recruitment process and future examinations of RRBs and RRCs. With 3,548 graduate-level posts across Indian Railways, the steps below are practical ones.

• Check your degree date first. You need the qualification on or before the closing date for submitting application, and a pending result disqualifies you.
• Pick your board on the numbers. Compare your category row for each board in the Annexure B vacancy table, and remember a request to move to another Railway is not registered until you complete at least 5 to 10 years of service.
• Match posts to your eyesight. If you have had Lasik, you are not eligible for the post having Medical Standard A-2, which is Goods Train Manager, but you can be eligible for the other three posts, subject to the conditions in the notice.
• Apply early. Candidates are advised to apply well before the closing date because of the possibility of heavy internet or website traffic during the final days, and the last date is November 6, 2026, up to 11:59 PM.
• Prepare for two tests, and keep typing. Both tests cover Mathematics, General Intelligence and Reasoning and General Awareness, and typist recruits are still assessed on typing after joining.
• Use official sites only. Candidates are told to beware of fake websites and to rely on the unified RRB website.

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People Also Asked

Q: What is the last date to apply for the RRB graduate posts?

A: Applications close on November 6, 2026, up to 11:59 p.m., and the fee must be paid by November 8.

Q: What is the starting pay for these railway posts?

A: Initial basic pay is ₹35,400 for Chief Commercial Cum Ticket Supervisor and ₹29,200 for the other three posts, with allowances such as Dearness Allowance and House Rent Allowance on top.

Q: Is there a typing test for the clerk and accounts posts?

A: No, the Computer Based Typing Skill Test has been dispensed with for this notice, though typing proficiency will be assessed after joining.

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