look news india
A big news full of relief and enthusiasm has emerged for lakhs of competitive students across the country who are dreaming of a government job in Indian Railways. Railway Board has given official approval to start the direct recruitment process on a total of 5,165 vacancies for the year 2026-27 under Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC). The final assessment of vacancies received through the Indent Management Module of Human Resource Management System (HRMS) from all Zonal Railways and Production Units has been completed vide official letter No. E(MPP)/2026/20/6/NTPC issued by Railway Board on 3 September 2026.
After this high level recommendation of the Board, now the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) has started final preparations to issue the detailed Centralized Employment Notification (CEN) very soon. This recruitment process will be conducted on mission mode with the aim of strengthening the continuously vacant posts and operational system in Railways. The youth of all the states of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal and Maharashtra were waiting for the new NTPC recruitment for a long time, whose wait is now on the verge of ending.
A total of 5,165 vacancies sanctioned by the Railway Board are divided into two major categories. In this, 3,477 posts have been reserved for graduate level and 1,688 posts have been reserved for intermediate i.e. 12th pass (Undergraduate) level.
The department wise and post wise details of 3,477 posts at graduate level are as follows:
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Goods Train Manager (Pay Level 5): Maximum 2,750 posts will be recruited in this category, which come under the Traffic (Operating) Department.
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Senior Clerk-cum-Typist – Pay Level 5: A total of 371 vacancies have been sanctioned in the General Administrative Branch.
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Junior Accounts Assistant-cum-Typist – Pay Level 5: There will be recruitment on a total of 300 posts under the Accounts Department.
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Chief Commercial-cum-Ticket Supervisor (CCTS – Pay Level 6): 56 posts have been included in the Traffic (Commercial) Department.
The breakdown of 1,688 posts at the Undergraduate (12th pass) level is as follows:
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Commercial-cum-Ticket Clerk (CCTC – Pay Level 3): Maximum 700 posts will be appointed in the ticket checking and booking branch.
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Junior Clerk-cum-Typist – Pay Level 2: A total of 600 posts have been given the green signal for clerical work.
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Accounts Clerk-cum-Typist – Pay Level 2: 200 vacancies will be filled in Railway Accounts Branch.
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Trains Clerk (Pay Level 2): A total of 188 posts will be recruited in the traffic operations wing.
After the formal approval of the vacancy proposal by the Railway Board, the process of releasing the official advertisement has now become faster. According to sources associated with Railway Recruitment Board, separate detailed notification PDF for both categories of graduate and 12th pass level will be released on the official portal.
It is expected that a short notice related to recruitment will be published in employment news and newspapers in the second or third week of September 2026. Immediately after this the link to fill the online application form will be activated on the official website. Candidates will get approximately 30 days to complete online registration and upload documents. The application fee for male candidates of General, OBC and EWS categories is expected to be fixed at ₹ 500, out of which the amount will be refunded after deducting bank charges as per rules on appearing in the CBT-1 examination. Whereas for women, SC, ST, disabled and ex-serviceman candidates, there will be a fee of ₹ 250, which will be fully refundable on appearing in the examination.
The educational qualification for RRB NTPC Recruitment 2026 is as per the level of the post:
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Graduate Level Posts: Candidates holding Bachelor’s degree in any stream (Arts, Science, Commerce or Engineering) from any recognized university will be eligible to apply. For posts related to clerk and accounts, knowledge of Hindi or English typing on computer will be mandatory.
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Undergraduate Level Posts: Students who have passed 12th (Intermediate) with minimum 50% marks from any recognized board will be able to apply for these posts. There will be relaxation in the requirement of minimum 50% marks for reserved category (SC/ST).
Under the age limit standards, the minimum age for undergraduate posts can be set at 18 years and maximum age at 30 years. Whereas for graduate level posts the age limit will be between 18 years to 33 years. As per Central Reservation Rules, special relaxation of 3 years in upper age limit will be provided to Other Backward Class (OBC-NCL) candidates and 5 years to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) candidates. Disabled and ex-servicemen will also get the benefit of additional age relaxation as per government rules.
The selection process for NTPC posts in Railways is transparent and multi-stage, which is conducted under a fully computerized system. The selection process will include the following steps:
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First Stage CBT (Computer Based Test 1): This is a screening test for all posts. In this, a total of 100 multiple choice questions will be asked from General Awareness (40 questions), Mathematics (30 questions) and General Intelligence & Reasoning (30 questions), which will be given 90 minutes time to solve. There will be negative marking of one-third (1/3) marks for each wrong answer.
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Second Stage CBT (CBT 2): Candidates shortlisted on the basis of merit in CBT-1 will be called for CBT-2. A total of 120 questions will be asked (General Awareness 50, Mathematics 35, Reasoning 35) and the time will be 90 minutes.
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Skill Test/Typing Test: Computer based typing skill test will be conducted for the posts like Senior Clerk, Junior Clerk, Junior Accounts Assistant, in which the speed of 30 words per minute in English or 25 words per minute in Hindi is mandatory.
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Document Verification (DV) and Medical Fitness: The original educational and caste certificates of the candidates who pass the written and skill test will be verified. After this, examination will be conducted under stringent medical standards (especially visual acuity and color vision test) in authorized hospitals of Railways.
Under RRB NTPC 2026, regional vacancies will be distributed under all the major recruitment boards of the country like Prayagraj, Patna, Ranchi, Gorakhpur, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Ajmer, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bilaspur, Chennai, Guwahati, Secunderabad and Ahmedabad. Candidates will be able to select any one Railway Recruitment Board based on their choice and language.
Experts say that since the total number of posts is 5,165, the level of competition is going to be very high this time. So candidates should plan their course from now without waiting for the release of official notification. Practicing previous years’ question papers daily, strengthening your grip on General Studies and Current Affairs and doing online mock test series for time management are essential for success. Candidates should rely only on the official information published on the official website of Indian Railways (indianrailways.gov.in) and respective regional RRB portals to avoid any unverified claims.