RRB JE 2026: Exam Date, Syllabus, Eligibility & Free Mocks

RRB JE recruitment fills Junior Engineer posts across Indian Railways along with Depot Material Superintendent and Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant. Junior Engineers supervise construction, maintenance and inspection work in the civil, mechanical, electrical and signal and telecommunication departments — the technical supervisory tier of the railway network.

The recruitment requires a diploma or degree in a relevant engineering discipline. Selection runs through two computer-based tests, with CBT 2 dominated by a 100-mark Technical Abilities section drawn from the candidate’s own engineering stream, followed by document verification and a medical examination.

RRB JE is popular with engineering diploma holders because it offers Pay Level 6 with a basic pay of ₹35,400 — the highest pay level available to a diploma qualification in Indian Railways — without requiring a degree.

A diploma holder entering as Junior Engineer draws the same pay level as a graduate entering as Station Master or SSC Junior Engineer. Few central government routes reward a three-year diploma at this level, which is why RRB JE attracts intense competition among polytechnic graduates.

The post carries genuine technical responsibility from the outset — supervising maintenance and construction work in the field — and offers departmental progression to Senior Section Engineer and beyond, alongside the full package of railway service benefits.

• Pay Level 6 available on a diploma qualification
• Technical supervisory responsibility from day one
• Progression to Senior Section Engineer and beyond
• Free travel passes, railway quarters, hospitals and schools

Dates are announced by the Railway Recruitment Boards with the centralised employment notice.rrbcdg.gov.in — Official RRB Portal

The most recent RRB JE cycle carried approximately Notified per cycle vacancies.

RRB JE vacancies are published both zone-wise and discipline-wise, so the figure that matters is the count for your engineering discipline within your chosen RRB zone. A discipline with few posts in one zone may have many in another. Check the centralised employment notice carefully before choosing.

Vacancies are notified zone-wise and discipline-wise in the centralised employment notice.rrbcdg.gov.in — Official Notification

To apply for RRB JE 2026 a candidate must hold a three-year diploma or a degree in an engineering discipline relevant to the post applied for, and be between 18 and 33 years of age as on the date specified in the notification.

Educational Qualification

A three-year diploma in Engineering from a recognised institution, or a degree in Engineering, in the discipline specified for the post applied for. Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant requires a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics or equivalent as specified.

• Eligible disciplines are post-specific and listed in detail in the notification — Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation, Computer Science and allied branches map to different posts.
• Verify that your exact diploma or degree branch appears in the eligible list for the post you intend to apply for.
• Candidates must possess the qualification as on the closing date of the application.

Age Limit

The age limit for RRB JE is 18 to 33 years. The upper age limit has varied between cycles. Confirm the exact range in the current centralised employment notice.

Nationality

• A citizen of India, or
• A subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or
• A Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1 January 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or
• A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka or East African countries with the intention of permanently settling in India.

RRB JE is conducted in two computer-based stages — CBT 1 has 100 questions worth 100 marks in 90 minutes as a screening test, and CBT 2 has 150 questions worth 150 marks in 120 minutes of which 100 marks come from discipline-specific Technical Abilities. Both deduct one-third of a mark per wrong answer.

1. 1Online application through the chosen Railway Recruitment Board’s portal.
2. 2CBT 1 — first stage screening test.
3. 3CBT 2 — second stage test including the 100-mark Technical Abilities section, determining merit.
4. 4Document verification against the qualification and category claimed.
5. 5Medical examination as per the fitness standard prescribed for the post.
6. 6Final merit list and allotment of post, discipline and railway zone.

The RRB JE syllabus covers Mathematics, Reasoning, General Awareness and General Science in CBT 1, while CBT 2 is dominated by discipline-specific Technical Abilities alongside physics and chemistry, computer basics and environment and pollution control.

RRB Junior Engineer is a Pay Level 6 post under the Seventh Pay Commission with a basic pay of ₹35,400 to ₹1,12,400, giving an approximate in-hand salary of ₹44,000 to ₹50,000 per month plus railway travel passes and quarters.

Allowances and Benefits

• Dearness Allowance (DA) — revised twice a year
• House Rent Allowance (HRA) or railway quarters
• Transport Allowance (TA)
• Free and concessional travel passes for the employee and family
• Railway hospitals, schools and housing colonies
• Overtime and night duty allowance where applicable

The decisive RRB JE strategy is to build Technical Abilities depth in your own engineering discipline, because that single section carries 100 of the 150 marks in the merit-determining CBT 2.