Indian Railways: Organisation, Zones and Recruitment
Organisation: Ministry, Board, zones, divisions
The Ministry of Railways of the Government of India is headed by the Railway Minister, a political office. The Railway Board, headquartered at Rail Bhavan, New Delhi, manages Indian Railways on behalf of the Ministry. It has a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and members for areas such as operations and business development, infrastructure, rolling stock and finance. It was set up in March 1905.
| Level | Head | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Railways | Railway Minister | political head |
| Railway Board | Chairman and CEO | Rail Bhavan, New Delhi |
| Zonal Railway | General Manager (GM) | each zone has a headquarters city |
| Division | Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) | a zone is divided into divisions |
| Production unit | General Manager | a factory, outside the zone map |
Zones and their headquarters
Learn the zone with its headquarters city; most questions are 'which city is the headquarters of ...' or 'Hajipur is the headquarters of ...'. The table lists the sixteen long-established zones in the arrangement that held before the 2026 change mentioned below; the Kolkata Metro Railway, created as a separate zone later, is not shown.
| Zone (code) | Headquarters |
|---|---|
| Northern (NR) | Delhi |
| North Eastern (NER) | Gorakhpur |
| Northeast Frontier (NFR) | Guwahati (Maligaon) |
| Eastern (ER) | Kolkata |
| South Eastern (SER) | Kolkata |
| South Central (SCR) | Secunderabad |
| Southern (SR) | Chennai |
| Central (CR) | Mumbai (CSMT) |
| Western (WR) | Mumbai (Churchgate) |
| North Western (NWR) | Jaipur |
| South Western (SWR) | Hubballi |
| West Central (WCR) | Jabalpur |
| North Central (NCR) | Prayagraj |
| South East Central (SECR) | Bilaspur |
| East Coast (ECoR) | Bhubaneswar |
| East Central (ECR) | Hajipur |
Reorganisation note. The zone map has been revised before and was revised again in 2026: a Railway Board gazette notification of May 2026, as reported in the press, constituted a new zone, South Coast Railway, with headquarters at Visakhapatnam, from 1 June 2026, drawing on parts of the East Coast and South Central zones; the boundaries of those two zones changed accordingly. Because the count and arrangement of zones change, this chapter does not teach a zone total. If a question gives a count, it will carry a date, and the answer is read against that date.
When the zones were formed
Zones were created in waves. The first six came in 1951 and 1952: Southern, Central and Western, followed by Northern, North Eastern and Eastern. Three more came later: South Eastern (1955), Northeast Frontier (1958) and South Central (in the mid-1960s). The largest reorganisation came in 2002 and 2003, when seven zones were added: North Western, East Central, South Western, West Central, North Central, South East Central and East Coast.
Production units
Production units are railway-owned factories that build rolling stock. They are not part of the zone map; each is headed by its own General Manager. The units usually listed are eight: three build coaches, three build locomotives, and two make wheels; lists in different books can differ slightly.
| Unit | Place | Makes |
|---|---|---|
| Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) | Chittaranjan, West Bengal | locomotives; the first production unit, 1950 |
| Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh | locomotives; earlier called Diesel Locomotive Works |
| Patiala Locomotive Works (PLW) | Patiala, Punjab | locomotives |
| Integral Coach Factory (ICF) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | passenger coaches |
| Rail Coach Factory (RCF) | Kapurthala, Punjab | passenger coaches (LHB type) |
| Modern Coach Factory (MCF) | Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh | coaches |
| Rail Wheel Factory (RWF) | Yelahanka, Bengaluru, Karnataka | wheels, axles and wheelsets |
| Rail Wheel Plant (RWP) | Bela, Bihar | wheels |
Recruitment: RRBs and the exams they conduct
Railway Recruitment Boards (RRB) are city-based boards that conduct recruitment to railway posts; their offices are in cities such as Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna and Secunderabad, and the complete list with the area each serves is on the official RRB websites. The Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB) was created in 1998 to coordinate and monitor the boards. There are also zonal Railway Recruitment Cells (RRC), which recruit for some categories; read each notification to see which body is conducting it.
| Exam | What it fills | Examinable idea |
|---|---|---|
| Level-1 | entry posts such as track maintainer and assistant pointsman (pay level 1) | formerly called Group D |
| NTPC | non-technical popular categories such as goods train manager (formerly called goods guard) and station-level posts | graduate and undergraduate levels |
| ALP and Technician | assistant loco pilot and technical posts | computer-based test, then further stages as notified |
- Each recruitment drive is announced through a numbered Centralised Employment Notice (CEN) that lists the posts, eligibility, stages and dates; the number and year identify the drive.
- A computer-based test (CBT) is common to all these exams; later stages such as a physical test, document verification or medical examination depend on the post and are stated in the CEN.
Key takeaways
- First passenger train: 16 April 1853, Bori Bunder (Bombay) to Thane, 34 km; first electric train: Bombay to Kurla, 3 February 1925.
- Railway Board: March 1905, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi; separate Railway Budget from 1924, merged with the Union Budget from 2017-18.
- Chain of control: Ministry, Railway Board, Zone (General Manager), Division (Divisional Railway Manager); broad gauge is 1,676 mm.
- Learn each zone with its headquarters: Hajipur (ECR), Gorakhpur (NER), Hubballi (SWR), Prayagraj (NCR), Bilaspur (SECR), Jabalpur (WCR), Bhubaneswar (ECoR); Kolkata (Eastern, South Eastern) and Mumbai (Central, Western) each host two of the zones in the table.
- Zones came in waves: six in 1951-52, three more later, seven in 2002-03; the zone count changes, so never quote it without a date.
- Production units: CLW, BLW, PLW build locomotives; ICF, RCF, MCF build coaches; RWF and RWP make wheels; RRBs conduct the CBTs for Level-1, NTPC, ALP and Technician posts.
Practice questions (18)
Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.
The first passenger train in India ran on 16 April 1853 between which two places?
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Answer: B — Bori Bunder (Bombay) and Thane
The 1853 run was a distance of 34 km from Bori Bunder in Bombay to Thane. Bombay to Kurla is the route of the first electric train in 1925, which tempts candidates who mix the two firsts.Which city is the headquarters of the North Eastern Railway zone?
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Answer: C — Gorakhpur
North Eastern Railway is headquartered at Gorakhpur. Guwahati is the headquarters of the Northeast Frontier Railway, a different zone with a similar name.Hajipur is the headquarters of which railway zone?
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Answer: A — East Central Railway
East Central Railway has its headquarters at Hajipur in Bihar. Eastern Railway is headquartered at Kolkata, and North Eastern at Gorakhpur, so both are look-alikes.Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway have their headquarters in the same city. Which city?
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Answer: D — Kolkata
Both zones have their headquarters in Kolkata. Bhubaneswar is the headquarters of East Coast Railway and Bilaspur of South East Central Railway, neither of which is Eastern or South Eastern.Judge these zone and headquarters pairs. P: East Central Railway, Hajipur. Q: South East Central Railway, Bilaspur. R: North Central Railway, Jabalpur. S: West Central Railway, Prayagraj. Which are correct?
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Answer: B — P and Q only
P and Q are correct. R and S swap the two cities: North Central is at Prayagraj and West Central at Jabalpur, so the choice with R is wrong.Which of the following zone and headquarters pairs is NOT correctly matched?
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Answer: C — South Western Railway, Bengaluru
South Western Railway is headquartered at Hubballi, not at Bengaluru, the larger city in the same state. The other three pairs are correct.Which of these zones was NOT among the seven added in the 2002 and 2003 reorganisation?
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Answer: A — Southern Railway
Southern Railway is one of the first zones, formed in 1951. East Coast, South Western and North Western were among the seven added in 2002-03; the compound names make Southern look similar but it is older.Which pair of zones has its headquarters in Mumbai?
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Answer: A — Central and Western
Central Railway is headquartered at CSMT and Western Railway at Churchgate, both in Mumbai. South Western is at Hubballi and Southern at Chennai, and Eastern at Kolkata.Where is the headquarters of the Railway Board?
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Answer: B — Rail Bhavan, New Delhi
The Railway Board works from Rail Bhavan in New Delhi. Rail Nilayam is the name of the Secunderabad office of the South Central zone, not of the Board.In what year was the Railway Board set up?
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Answer: A — 1905
The Railway Board was set up in March 1905. The year 1924 is when the Railway Budget began to be presented separately, which is a different milestone.In the administrative hierarchy of Indian Railways, a zone is headed by a General Manager. Who heads a division of a zone?
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Answer: D — Divisional Railway Manager
A division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM). The Chairman heads the Board, and a Chief Operations Manager is a zonal officer, not the head of a division.Arrange in order of time. P: first electric train in India. Q: Railway Board set up. R: first passenger train. S: Railway Budget merged with the Union Budget.
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Answer: C — R, Q, P, S
The order is the 1853 passenger train (R), the 1905 Board (Q), the 1925 electric train (P) and the 2017 budget merger (S). Placing the electric train before the Board swaps 1925 and 1905.What is the width of the broad gauge used on the main lines of Indian Railways?
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Answer: D — 1,676 mm
Indian broad gauge is 1,676 mm. The 1,000 mm figure is the metre gauge and 762 mm is a narrow gauge, while 1,435 mm is the standard gauge used elsewhere, not the Indian main line.Which production unit of Indian Railways is located at Kapurthala?
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Answer: A — Rail Coach Factory
The Rail Coach Factory is at Kapurthala in Punjab. Patiala Locomotive Works is also in Punjab but at Patiala and builds locomotives, so it is the near-miss option.Judge these. P: Chittaranjan Locomotive Works builds locomotives. Q: Integral Coach Factory builds coaches at Chennai. R: Modern Coach Factory at Raebareli builds wheels. S: Rail Wheel Factory at Bengaluru makes wheels and axles. Which are correct?
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Answer: B — P, Q and S
P, Q and S are correct. R is false because Modern Coach Factory builds coaches; the wheel makers are the Rail Wheel Factory and Rail Wheel Plant.Which of the following is NOT a coach-manufacturing unit of Indian Railways?
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Answer: C — Banaras Locomotive Works
Banaras Locomotive Works, at Varanasi, builds locomotives, as its name says. The other three are coach factories at Chennai, Raebareli and Kapurthala.Which was the first locomotive production unit of Indian Railways, commissioned in 1950?
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Answer: D — Chittaranjan Locomotive Works
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in West Bengal was the first locomotive unit, commissioned in 1950. Banaras Locomotive Works at Varanasi started later, and the Integral Coach Factory builds coaches.What does the Railway Recruitment Control Board, set up in 1998, do for the Railway Recruitment Boards?
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Answer: A — It coordinates and monitors their activities
The RRCB coordinates and monitors the boards. Production units, the budget and zonal management belong to the Railway Board, the Ministry and the General Managers respectively.