Lok Sabha Question No. 789 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Technical Recruitments in Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Raja A

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 789 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026

## TECHNICAL RECRUITMENTS IN RAILWAYS

## 789. SHRI RAJA A:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the list of Vande Bharat express trains and Amrit Bharat trains running in the country, including Tamil Nadu;
- (b)  the  details  of  coach  factories  in  the  country  where  the  high  speed express trains are manufactured;
- (c) whether the Government propose to give preference to the locals in all technical  recruitments  in  Railways  where  the  coaches  are  being manufactured, including ICF Perambur and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the details of staff recruited both regular as well as on contract basis in the Southern railway during the last three years, as on 1st of January, 2026?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d) As the railway network straddles across State boundaries, trains are  introduced  across  such  boundaries  as  per  network  requirement. However, as on 29.01.2026, the following 164 Vande Bharat train services (Chair  Car),  02  Vande  Bharat  Sleeper  Express  and  54  Amrit  Bharat  train services are being operated on the Indian Railways network: Vande Bharat Slepper Train service:

|   SN | Train No. and Name                                         |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 27575/27576 Howrah - Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express |

## Vande Bharat (Chair Car) Train service:

|   SN | Train No. and Name                                                                 |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 22435/22436 New Delhi - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express                              |
|    2 | 22439/22440 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express           |
|    3 | 20901/20902 Gandhinagar Capital - Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express              |
|    4 | 22447/22448 Amb Andura - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express                            |
|    5 | 20607/20608 Mysuru - MGR Chennai Central Vande Bharat Express                      |
|    6 | 20825/20826 Nagpur - Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express                                 |
|    7 | 22301/22302 New Jalpaiguri - Howrah Vande Bharat Express                           |
|    8 | 20833/20834 Secunderabad - Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express                      |
|    9 | 22223/22224 Sainagar Shirdi - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express |
|   10 | 22225/22226 Solapur - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express         |
|   11 | 20171/20172 Nizamuddin - Rani Kamlapati Vande Bharat Express                       |
|   12 | 20701/20702 Tirupati - Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express                           |
|   13 | 20643/20644 Coimbatore - Chennai Vande Bharat Express                              |
|   14 | 20977/20978 Chandigarh - Ajmer Vande Bharat Express                                |
|   15 | 20633/20634 Kasaragod - Thiruvananthapuram Central Vande Bharat Express            |
|   16 | 22895/22896 Puri - Howrah Vande Bharat Express                                     |
|   17 | 22457/22458 Dehradun - Anand Vihar Vande Bharat Express                            |

|   18 | 22227/22228 Guwahati - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express                      |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   19 | 20911/20912 Nagpur - Indore Vande Bharat Express                                |
|   20 | 22229/22230 Madgaon - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express      |
|   21 | 22349/22350 Ranchi - Patna Vande Bharat Express                                 |
|   22 | 20661/20662 Dharwar - Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express                            |
|   23 | 20173/20174 Rewa - Rani Kamlapati Vande Bharat Express                          |
|   24 | 22549/22550 Gorakhpur - Prayagraj Vande Bharat Express                          |
|   25 | 12461/12462 Sabarmati - Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express                            |
|   26 | 22925/22926 Okha - Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express                               |
|   27 | 20665/20666 Tirunelveli - Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express                   |
|   28 | 20677/20678 Narsapur - Chennai Vande Bharat Express                             |
|   29 | 20703/20704 Yesvantpur - Kacheguda Vande Bharat Express                         |
|   30 | 20631/20632 Mangaluru Central - Thiruvananthapuram Central Vande Bharat Express |
|   31 | 20979/20980 Jaipur - Udaipur Vande Bharat Express                               |
|   32 | 22347/22348 Patna - Howrah Vande Bharat Express                                 |
|   33 | 20835/20836 Puri - Rourkela Vande Bharat Express                                |
|   34 | 20897/20898 Ranchi - Howrah Vande Bharat Express                                |
|   35 | 22415/22416 New Delhi - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express                           |
|   36 | 20641/20642 Bengaluru Cantt. - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express                  |
|   37 | 20645/20646 Madgaon - Mangaluru Central Vande Bharat Express                    |
|   38 | 20705/20706 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (T) - Nanded Vande Bharat Express       |

|   39 | 22477/22478 Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra - New Delhi Vande Bharat Express   |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   40 | 22425/22426 Ayodhya Cantt. - Anand Vihar (T) Vande Bharat Express          |
|   41 | 22487/22488 Amritsar - Delhi Vande Bharat Express                          |
|   42 | 22961/22962 Mumbai Central - Ahmedabad Vande Bharat Express                |
|   43 | 20707/20708 Visakhapatnam - Secunderabad Vande Bharat Express              |
|   44 | 20663/20664 Chennai - Mysuru Vande Bharat Express                          |
|   45 | 22233/22234 Patna - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express                    |
|   46 | 22469/22470 Khajuraho - Nizamuddin Vande Bharat Express                    |
|   47 | 22231/22232 Bengaluru - Kalburagi Vande Bharat Express                     |
|   48 | 20841/20842 Visakhapatnam - Bhubaneswar Vande Bharat Express               |
|   49 | 22345/22346 Gomti Nagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express                       |
|   50 | 20887/20888 Varanasi - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express                         |
|   51 | 22545/22546 Dehradun - Lucknow Jn Vande Bharat Express                     |
|   52 | 22489/22490 Varanasi - Meerut City Vande Bharat Express                    |
|   53 | 20981/20982 Agra cantt. - Udaipur Vande Bharat Express                     |
|   54 | 20627/20628 Nagercoil - Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Express                |
|   55 | 20671/20672 Bengaluru Cantt - Madurai Vande Bharat Express                 |
|   56 | 22499/22500 Deoghar - Varanasi Vande Bharat Express                        |
|   57 | 22309/22310 Jamalpur - Howrah Vande Bharat Express                         |
|   58 | 20871/20872 Rourkela - Howrah Vande Bharat Express                         |
|   59 | 20893/20894 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express                         |
|   60 | 20891/20892 Tatanagar - Brahmapur Vande Bharat Express                     |

|   61 | 22303/22304 Gaya - Howrah Vande Bharat Express                           |
|------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   62 | 20669/20670 Pune - Hubballi Vande Bharat Express                         |
|   63 | 20673/20674 Pune - Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (T) Vande Bharat Express    |
|   64 | 20101/20102 Secunderabad - Nagpur Vande Bharat Express                   |
|   65 | 20829/20830 Visakhapatnam - Durg Vande Bharat Express                    |
|   66 | 21893/21894 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express                       |
|   67 | 21895/21896 Patna - Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express                       |
|   68 | 20175/20176 Banaras - Agra Cantt. Vande Bharat Express                   |
|   69 | 26901/26902 Veraval - Sabarmati Vande Bharat Express                     |
|   70 | 26401/26402 Srinagar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express |
|   71 | 26403/26404 Srinagar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express |
|   72 | 26501/26502 Patliputra - Gorkahpur Vande Bharat Express                  |
|   73 | 26751/26752 KSR Bengaluru - Belagavi Vande Bharat Express                |
|   74 | 26405/26406 Amritsar - Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express |
|   75 | 26101/26102 Pune - Ajni Vande Bharat Express                             |
|   76 | 26301/26302 Jogbani - Danapur Vande Bharat Express                       |
|   77 | 26481/26482 Delhi Cantt - Jodhpur Vande Bharat Express                   |
|   78 | 26471/26472 Delhi Cantt - Bikaner Vande Bharat Express                   |
|   79 | 26461/26462 Delhi - Firozpur Cantt. Vande Bharat Express                 |
|   80 | 26651/26652 Ernakulam - KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express               |
|   81 | 26505/26506 Khajuraho - Banaras Vande Bharat Express                     |
|   82 | 26503/26504 Saharanpur - Gomtinagar Vande Bharat Express                 |

## Amrit Bharat:

|   SN | Train No. and Name                                                   |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 11015/11016 Lokmanya Tilak (T) - Saharsa Amrit Bharat Express        |
|    2 | 13697/13698 Gaya - Delhi Amrit Bharat Express                        |
|    3 | 15293/15294 Muzaffarpur - Charlapalli Amrit Bharat Express           |
|    4 | 15557/15558 Darbhanga - Anand Vihar (T) Amrit Bharat Express         |
|    5 | 15561/15562 Darbhanga - Gomtinagar Amrit Bharat Express              |
|    6 | 15567/15568 Bapudham Motihari - Anand Vihar (T) Amrit Bharat Express |
|    7 | 22361/22362 Rajendranagar (T) - New Delhi Amrit Bharat Express       |
|    8 | 13433/13434 SMVT Bengaluru - Malda Town Amrit Bharat Express         |
|    9 | 13435/13436 Malda Town - Gomtinagar Amrit Bharat Express             |
|   10 | 15133/15134 Chhapra - Anand Vihar (T) Amrit Bharat Express           |
|   11 | 14047/14048 Sitamarhi - Delhi Amrit Bharat Express                   |
|   12 | 14627/14628 Saharsa - Chheharta Amrit Bharat Express                 |
|   13 | 19623/19624 Madar - Darbhanga Amrit Bharat Express                   |
|   14 | 16601/16602 Erode - Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express                     |
|   15 | 19021/19022 Udhna - Brahmapur Amrit Bharat Express                   |
|   16 | 15671/15672 Kamakhya - Rohtak Amrit Bharat Express                   |
|   17 | 20609/20610 New Jalpaiguri - Tiruchchirappalli Amrit Bharat Express  |
|   18 | 16597/16598 SMVT Bengaluru - Alipurduar Amrit Bharat Express         |
|   19 | 11031/11032 Panvel - Alipurduar Amrit Bharat Express                 |
|   20 | 16107/16108 Tambaram - Santragachi Amrit Bharat Express              |

-6-

|   21 | 13065/13066 Howrah - Anand Vihar (T) Amrit Bharat Express               |
|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   22 | 22587/22588 Sealdah - Banaras Amrit Bharat Express                      |
|   23 | 20603/20604 New Jalpaiguri - Nagercoil Amrit Bharat Express             |
|   24 | 15949/15950 Dibrugarh - Gomti Nagar Amrit Bharat Express                |
|   25 | 16121/16122 Tambaram - Thiruvananthapuram Central Amrit Bharat Express  |
|   26 | 16329/16330 Nagercoil - Mangaluru Junction Amrit Bharat Express         |
|   27 | 17041/17042 Charlapalli - Thiruvananthapuram North Amrit Bharat Express |

The following 16 Vande Bharat train services (Chair Car) and 12 Amrit Bharat train services, on originating/terminating basis, are catering to the needs of various stations located in the State of Tamil Nadu:

## Vande Bharat:

|   SN | Train No. and Name of Vande Bharat service                        |
|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 20671/20672 Madurai - Bengaluru Cantt. Vande Bharat Express       |
|    2 | 20627/20628 Chennai Egmore - Nagercoil Vande Bharat Express       |
|    3 | 20663/20664 Mysuru - MGR Chennai Central Vande Bharat Express     |
|    4 | 20641/20642 Bengaluru Cantt. - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express    |
|    5 | 20665/20666 Chennai Egmore - Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Express     |
|    6 | 20677/20678 MGR Chennai Central - Narasapur Vande Bharat Express  |
|    7 | 20643/20644 MGR Chennai Central - Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express |
|    8 | 20607/20608 MGR Chennai Central - Mysuru Vande Bharat Express     |

## Amrit Bharat:

|   SN | Train No. and Name                                                     |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 16121/16122 Tambaram - Thiruvananthapuram Central Amrit Bharat Express |
|    2 | 20609/20610 New Jalpaiguri - Tiruchchirappalli Amrit Bharat Express    |
|    3 | 16329/16330 Nagercoil - Mangaluru Junction Amrit Bharat Express        |
|    4 | 20603/20604 New Jalpaiguri - Nagercoil Amrit Bharat Express            |
|    5 | 16107/16108 Tambaram - Santragachi Amrit Bharat Express                |
|    6 | 16601/16602 Erode - Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express                       |

Moreover, introduction of new trains including Vande Bharat train services and Amrit  Bharat  train  services  along  with  its  variants  on  any  route/section depends on various factors which include:

- Capacity of that section
- Availability of path
- Availability of required rolling stock
- Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock
- Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets

## Production units:

Presently, there are three coach manufacturing units under the Ministry of Railways manufacturing Vande Bharat Trainsets, Amrit Bharat Trains, Namo Bharat trains,  Rapid  and  Regional  Metro  rakes,  Kolkata  Metro  Rakes  and mainline LHB coaches. These coach manufacturing units are as under:

1. Integral Coach Factory, Chennai
2. Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala
3. Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli

## Recruitment

Occurrence and filling up of vacancies are continuous processes on Indian Railways considering its size, spatial distribution and criticality of operation. Adequate  and  suitable  manpower  is  provided  to  cater  to  the  regular operations, changes in technology, mechanisations and innovative practices. The vacancies are filled up primarily by placement of indents by Railways with Recruitment agencies as per operational and technological requirements.

Railways, being Central Government organization conduct recruitment on all India basis. This is in line with Constitutional provision of right to equality in matters  of  public  employment.  Every  candidate  irrespective  of  gender, language,  place  of  birth,  region  etc.  fulfilling  eligibility  criteria  is  free  to apply. All those who  apply in response to Centralised  Employment Notifications (CENs), including local candidates are considered for recruitment on  the  Railways,  on  equal  footing.  No  preference  is  given  to candidates belonging to any State or Region nor is the recruitment restricted to any State or Region.

Presently, recruitment against 143086 vacancies of non-gazetted personnel has been taken up on Indian Railways as per Annual Calendar 2024 and 2025.

During January to December 2024, ten Centralized Employment Notifications (CENs) for 92,116 vacancies (including 6927 vacancies for Southern Railway & 1395 vacancies for ICF) were notified for filling up of posts of Assistant Loco  Pilots  (ALPs),  Technicians,  Sub-Inspectors,  Constables  in  Railway Protection Force (RPF), Junior Engineers (JEs)/ Depot Material Superintendent (DMS)/ Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA), Paramedical Categories, Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate), Non-

Technical  Popular  Categories  (Under-Graduate),  Ministerial  &  Isolated Categories and Level-1 categories such as Assistants, Track Maintainers and Pointsman.

First stage/Single stage Computer Based Tests (CBTs) for 59,678 posts has been completed.  Details are as under:-

| Exam                                                                                   | Candidates   | Cities   | Languages   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| 1 st Stage CBT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies)                                  | 18,40,347    | 156      | 15          |
| CBT for the post of Technician (14,298 vacancies)                                      | 26,99,892    | 139      | 15          |
| 1 st Stage CBT for the post of JE/DMS/CMA (7,951 vacancies)                            | 11,01,266    | 146      | 15          |
| CBT for the post of RPF-SI (452 vacancies)                                             | 15,35,635    | 143      | 15          |
| CBT for the post of RPF-Constable (4,208 vacancies)                                    | 45,30,288    | 147      | 15          |
| CBT for Paramedical Categories (1,376 vacancies)                                       | 7,08,321     | 143      | 15          |
| 1 st Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) (8,113 vacancies)       | 58,41,774    | 141      | 15          |
| 1 st Stage CBT for Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under Graduate) (3,445 vacancies) | 63,27,473    | 157      | 15          |
| CBT for Ministerial & Isolated categories (1,036 vacancies)                            | 4,46,013     | 139      | 15          |
| Total Candidates                                                                       | 2,50,31,009  |          |             |

2 nd  stage CBTs for the posts of ALP, JE/DMS/CMA and Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate & Under-Graduate) have also been completed.  Details are as under: -

| Exam                                                                                   | Candidates   | Cities   | Languages   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| 2 nd Stage CBT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies)                                  | 2,66,363     | 112      | 15          |
| 2 nd Stage CBT for the post of JE/DMS/CMA (7,951 vacancies)                            | 1,17,339     | 118      | 15          |
| 2 nd Stage CBT for Non- Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) (8,113 vacancies)      | 1,21,931     | 129      | 15          |
| 2 nd Stage CBT for Non- Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate) (3445 vacancies) | 51,978       | 79       | 15          |
| Total Candidates                                                                       | 5,57,611     |          |             |

Computer Based Aptitude Test (CBAT) for the post of ALP and Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate) and Computer based Skill Test for the post of Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate-level) and Ministerial & Isolated Categories have also been completed. Details are as under:-

| Exam                                        | Candidates   |   Cities |   Languages |
|---------------------------------------------|--------------|----------|-------------|
| CBAT for the post of ALP (18,799 vacancies) | 1,32,044     |       84 |           2 |

| Translation Test for Ministerial and Isolated Categories                                                   | 1,233    | 8   | 2   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------|-----|-----|
| CBAT for the post of Non- Technical Popular Categories (Graduate)                                          | 13,616   | 38  | 2   |
| Computer Based Typing Skill Test (CBTST) for the post of Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate-level) | 30,341   | 58  | 2   |
| Total Candidates                                                                                           | 1,77,234 |     |     |

CBT  for  32,438  vacancies  for  level  -1  categories  has  commenced  from 27.11.2025 in 140 cities in 15 languages. Physical efficiency Test (PET) for 4,208 vacancies of Constable (RPF) has been completed on 06.12.2025.

Panels for more than 31,000 candidates for various posts including the posts of Technicians, Junior Engineers, Paramedical Categories, Sub-Inspectors (RPF) and Assistant Loco Pilots have been finalised.  Majority of them are in safety categories.

In  addition,  as  per  Annual  Calendar  for  the  year  2025,  nine  Centralized Employment  Notifications  (CENs)  for  50970  vacancies  (including  3412 vacancies for Southern Railway & 438 vacancies for ICF) have also been issued. Details are as under:-

| CEN No.   | Post Name             | No. of Vacancies notified   | Month of Notification   |
|-----------|-----------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------|
| 01/2025   | Assistant Loco Pilots | 9,970                       | March 2025              |

| 02/2025         | Technician                                         | 6,238     | June 2025                   |
|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------------------------|
| 03/2025         | Paramedical categories                             | 434       | July 2025                   |
| 04/2025         | Section Controller                                 | 368       | August 2025                 |
| 05/2025         | Junior Engineer/ Depot Material Superintendent     | 2,585     | October 2025                |
| 06/2025         | Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate)        | 5,810     | October 2025                |
| 07/2025         | Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under- Graduate) | 3,058     | October 2025                |
| 08/2025 09/2025 | Isolated Categories level-1                        | 312 22195 | December 2025 December 2025 |

The RRB examinations are quite technical in nature entailing large scale mobilization  of  men  and  resources  and  training  of  manpower.  Railway overcame all these challenges and successfully conducted the recruitment in a transparent manner following all laid down guidelines. No instance of paper leakage or similar malpractice has occurred during the entire process.

Recruitment done in Indian Railways during 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 vis-àvis during 2014-2015 to 2024-2025 is given as under:-

| Period                 | Recruitments*   |
|------------------------|-----------------|
| 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 | 4.11 lakh       |
| 2014-2015 to 2024-2025 | 5.08 lakh       |

Further, as system improvement, the Ministry of Railways has introduced a system  of  publishing  the  annual  calendar  from  2024  for  recruitment  to various  categories  of  Group  'C'  posts.  The  introduction  of  the  annual calendar is benefitting the aspirants in the following manner:

-   More opportunities for candidates;
-   Opportunities to those becoming eligible every year;
-   Certainty of exams;
-   Faster Recruitment process, Training and Appointments

Indian Railways (IR) executes a wide range of works for creation, repair and maintenance  of  its  various  assets  including  stations,  coaches,  wagons, coaching depots, locomotives, tracks, etc. These works are executed either departmentally or through engaging outside agencies.

In exigencies of work, sometimes contractual engagement is resorted to as a  stop-gap  arrangement  till  regular  incumbents  join  the  posts.  Such contractual  engagement  is  purely  temporary  and  time-bound,  and  is undertaken only to ensure smooth functioning of Railway operations until posts are filled through regular selection as per extant rules and procedures.

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