Indian Railways recruited 43,781 candidates in the financial year 2025-26, filling positions across six major categories through completed Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) cycles. The figure was disclosed at a high-level review meeting chaired by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on June 12, 2026, where officials assessed the speed and transparency of the RRB selection process.
The hiring covered 47,084 notified vacancies. Assistant Loco Pilots accounted for the largest share at 18,799 positions, followed by 14,298 Technicians and 7,951 Junior Engineers, Depot Material Superintendents, and Chemical and Metallurgical Assistants. The remaining intake spanned 4,208 Constables, 1,376 paramedical staff, and 452 Sub-Inspectors.
That breakdown tells you where the workforce gaps sat. Operations and engineering roles dominated, which fits a network still expanding track, rolling stock, and station infrastructure.
Vaishnaw pushed for the recruitment system to keep evolving through technology, faster processes, and greater accountability. He directed the boards to expand Computer-Based Tests and roll out more tablet-based examinations wherever feasible, so hiring becomes quicker and easier for candidates to navigate.
“More and more tablet-based examinations should be introduced wherever feasible, so that recruitment becomes faster, more efficient and user-friendly,” Vaishnaw said during the review, according to the official statement.
The minister also flagged multi-language support as a priority. RRB examinations are already run in several languages across multiple cities and shifts, a setup meant to keep language from becoming a barrier for aspirants from different linguistic backgrounds. He asked the boards to strengthen candidate communication and counter misinformation with factual updates.
For context on scale: the RRBs conducted CBTs for more than 1.86 crore candidates across seven notifications since November 2024. That volume of applicants for roughly 47,000 confirmed hires shows how competitive government railway jobs remain in India, and why the integrity of the testing process draws so much scrutiny.
The structured calendar appears to be landing well with aspirants. Vaishnaw noted that the annual recruitment schedule and quarterly vacancy notifications have drawn a positive response, giving candidates a clearer timeline to prepare against. Predictability has been a long-standing complaint with large public-sector hiring, where notifications and results once stretched across years.
