Job opportunities in Rail Transport – Assistant Station Master/Guard/Traffic Apprentice

Last updated on April 5th, 2015 at 06:15 am

Assistant Station Master (ASM), Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE), Train Conductor (TC), Enquiry cum Reservation Clerk (ECRC), Guard etc. are the front line staff of Indian Railways having a first level interface with the passenger/public and management. This group of staff is always in uniform on duty and  can easily be recognized in Railway working areas without any difficulty. In fact, the public understands Railways working with this group of staff only and does not know much about the role and functions of other department. Like airways, pilot and air hostess are the front line staff and everyone recognizes them.

The cadre of ASM, Guard, TTE and ECRC is under the control of an IRTS cadre of officers in Indian Railways. There is a joke about how important is the cadre in the opinion of the public:

Once when Santa got selected in IRTS, he visited the nearby Railway Station of his village to meet the Station Master. On meeting, he told him “Sir ji, I have been selected in IRTS cadre” Stationmaster got up immediately, congratulated him and told him how important person he will be in Railways. He listened patiently but asked at the end “It is all ok, but tell me when I will be in a position to occupy your chair.”

IRTS cadre of group A services is having two streams namely Operating and Commercial. Operations department is responsible for operation of trains whereas commercial department is responsible of realization of revenue from all possible sources like passenger, freight, stalls, advertisement, parkings etc.

Even though no one bothers about the job profile of any post except looking for ways to get Railway job yet it will certainly help at one or the other stage to be aware of the  job profile of different post  and what is in store for the future. ASM, Guard and Traffic Apprentice are associated with train operation and works under the control of Operating Department in the Division.

 Job Profile of ASM

Assistant Station master is the lowest level of group C Railway employee of Operating Department responsible for the management of Railway Station with the specific responsibility of receiving and dispatching trains safely. He goes up in the cadre from shift to supervisory duty of a small station and then to a  big station. The main responsibility is receiving and dispatching a train only irrespective of the level of the station. To a common man, it appears to be a simple job, but to make sure safe working, this action is associated with a procedure and shortcut in the procedure sometimes results in an accident.

Being at the forefront, the job profile is attached with dignity, responsibility, public face etc. He commands respect in the nearby area of the Station.

For about 10-15 years he works at a small station where social life, schooling, medical facility is limited. Most of the time, he keeps his family to another major station and visit family during rest days. Except this, life is generally OK.

He may also find an opportunity to get selected as Section Controller, the posts which are located only in Divisional HQ, certainly a big station. Major stations are also having posts of Traffic Supervisor for assisting timely departure of trains.

Promotional avenue is to Station Master (about 5 years) and then Station Superintendent. The total number of posts in SS is about 50% of the total. He is entitled after 5 years of service as Station Master for appearing in the Limited Department Competitive examination for making an entry in the cadre of assistant level officers called Assistant Operation Manager or Assistant Commercial Manager. Station Manger of a big station is generally in Junior or Senior Scale officer’s cadre and you have to qualify the LDCE/LGS examination to sit in those chairs.

Pay scale and Educational qualification is not discussed as always given in the vacancy notice.

Job Profile of Guard

Guard is a group C Railway employee of Operating Department responsible for guarding the train during the run and at stops. The guard of a train is accommodated in the brake van at the end of the train. He starts his career working on freight trains and later on getting promotion as passenger and express trains. Life as the freight train guard is not very comfortable. He has to stay in a brake van. The brake van of a freight train were four wheeler earlier but now upgraded to eight wheeler, thus reducing strain and jerk during travelling. He has to stay alone in the brake van without light in all weather conditions of winter summer and monsoon. On promotion to the post of the passenger train guard, the life becomes slightly simpler.

As regards promotional avenues, he is promoted to Passenger and then Mail/Express Guard. The salary earning is better than ASM. Also, the posting is always at crew changing point, which is certainly a better place as compared to small station. If you have the option to choose between ASM and guard, the profession as Guard is generally chosen.

There are about 4000 vacancies all over India for the post of ASM and Guard.

Duranto Guard in a Ceremonial Uniform

Freight Train Guard

Guard of Rajdhani – Alert and ready

Guard of Rajdhani Express showing flag at the departure of the train

How difficult is the examination?

Recruitment is through RRB and is called Non-Technical Popular Category (Graduate). All the posts requiring minimum qualification of graduation are grouped in this category. You have to give your choice and when selected, depending on your merit you may get the possible  option. ASM/Guard/Traffic Apprentice all are covered in this category. Considering the total vacancies and applicant, the probability is 1 in 15000. This makes the competition very tough and also about 100 candidates on one mark. Remember the examination is not difficult, but the competition therefore, learn the techniques of qualifying with the knowledge you acquire or possess. This is how you extract information from you memory at the right moment, evaluation from the options etc.

Remember that unfair means will not help anyone in qualifying the examination.