RRB JE Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility, Important Dates

CBT 1: 100 marks, 90 minutes

CBT 1 only screens. Its marks don't enter the final merit.

CBT 2: 150 marks, 120 minutes

Merit comes from CBT 2, so in practice the exam is decided by 100 technical questions.

One third of a mark is deducted for a wrong answer in both stages. A blank costs nothing.

A virtual calculator appears on screen in CBT 2. The CEN mentions none for CBT 1.

Scribe-eligible candidates get 120 minutes instead of 90 in CBT 1, and 160 instead of 120 in CBT 2. Scribe details go into the application in a separate window, not arranged at the centre.

After CBT 2

Document verification and a medical examination to the standard for the post.

Mathematics (CBT 1)

Number systems, BODMAS, decimals, fractions, LCM and HCF, ratio and proportion, percentage, mensuration, time and work, time and distance, simple and compound interest, profit and loss, algebra, geometry and trigonometry, elementary statistics, square root, age calculations, calendar and clock, pipes and cisterns.

General Intelligence & Reasoning (CBT 1)

Analogies, alphabetical and number series, coding and decoding, mathematical operations, relationships, syllogism, jumbling, Venn diagrams, data interpretation and sufficiency, conclusions and decision making, similarities and differences, analytical reasoning, classification, directions, statement and arguments, statement and assumptions.

General Science (CBT 1)

Physics, chemistry and life sciences to class 10 level.

General Awareness (both stages)

Current affairs in science and technology, sports, culture, personalities, economics, politics and other subjects of importance.

Physics & Chemistry (CBT 2)

To class 10 level, as prescribed by CBSE.

Basics of Computers and Applications (CBT 2)

Computer architecture, input and output devices, storage devices, networking, operating systems including Windows, Unix and Linux, MS Office, various data representation, internet and email, websites and web browsers, computer viruses.

Basics of Environment and Pollution Control (CBT 2)

Basics of environment, adverse effects of environmental pollution and control strategies, air, water and noise pollution and their standards and effects, waste management, global warming, acid rain, and ozone depletion.

Technical Abilities (CBT 2)

Set on the exam group your qualification maps to. The groups include Civil Engineering; Mechanical, Automobile and allied engineering; Electrical and allied engineering; Electronics and allied engineering; Computer Science and Information Technology; Printing Technology; and Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering. The detailed technical syllabus for each is in the CEN.

Educational qualification

A three-year Diploma or a bachelor's degree in Engineering or Technology in the discipline notified for the post. Some posts, such as Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant, take a B.Sc. in specified subjects instead.

Your qualification maps to an exam group, which decides the Technical Abilities paper you sit. Groups combine disciplines, so the paper can be broader than your own diploma.

Age

18 to 33 years, counted on 1 January 2027 for CEN 04/2026, not on the closing date. Relaxations: 5 years for SC and ST, 3 for OBC, 10 for PwBD, and the prescribed relaxation for ex-servicemen.

Medical standards

They differ by post, and the notification lists them post by post.

1. CBT 1: 100 marks, 90 minutes. Screening only.
2. CBT 2: 150 marks, 120 minutes, 100 of them Technical Abilities. Merit comes from this stage.
3. Document verification and medical examination.

There's no interview. Selection is board-wise, so cut-offs differ between boards in the same cycle.

Level 6 of the 7th CPC pay matrix, whatever the department. Dearness, house rent and transport allowances come on top and vary with the posting.

What differs between posts is the medical standard, not the pay: A3 for several Signal and Telecommunication posts and C1 for Depot Material Superintendent, for example. Check the post parameter table before you set your preferences.

Fee, and the part you get back

The refund only comes if you sit CBT 1, less bank charges. Apply and stay away, and you've paid the full fee.

EBC is not OBC or EWS

Economically Backward Class is a separate concession, proved by an EBC certificate in the CEN's format, a BPL card, an Izzat MST or another central government poverty certificate. An OBC or EWS certificate won't do.

One board, one application

Apply to a single Railway Recruitment Board, once. Multiple applications get all of them rejected and can lead to debarment from future CENs. You can't change the board or your Create an Account details later.

Corrections cost money

You can modify the application in the window after closing, paying a non-refundable fee each time. If a correction takes you out of a concessional category, you also pay the fee difference.

Pick your exam group carefully

The CEN's discipline mapping table maps every accepted diploma and degree to an exam group. If you hold qualifications mapped to different groups, you choose which group to sit, as long as your chosen posts accept it. It's the one choice on the form that changes your paper, and you can't revisit it.

The employer is Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways. The 21 Railway Recruitment Boards run the process, and selected candidates join a Railway zone according to the vacancy table and their preferences.

Posts are in the Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Signal and Telecommunication and Stores departments. Vacancies are published board by board and zone by zone in the CEN's annexures.

The board you choose is the competition you enter. Shortlisting for CBT 2 is 15 times that board's community-wise vacancies, among the candidates who chose it.

The 21 Railway Recruitment Boards are Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Bilaspur, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Jammu, Kolkata, Malda, Mumbai, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Prayagraj, Ranchi, Secunderabad, Siliguri and Thiruvananthapuram.

Your board doesn't decide where you sit the paper. Centres are allotted on feasibility, you may have to travel to another city or state, and requests to change the date, centre or shift are refused.

CEN 04/2026, Junior Engineer and Depot Material Superintendent.

A corrigendum has been issued against this CEN; it's carried on the board websites. Exam dates go up on your own board's site, reachable from rrb.indianrailways.gov.in.

The e-call letter is downloaded from your board's website. Shortlisting is announced there and by SMS and email, so keep your mobile number and email live.

• Don't bring a pen or pencil. One is provided.
• Banned: mobile phones, pagers, watches, earphones, Bluetooth devices, health bands, calculators, books, paper, pouches, scales, writing pads, belts, handbags, caps and purses.
• No henna on your hands. It blocks biometric capture, and a failure there means disqualification.

Multi-shift CBTs are normalised, and the normalised mark decides shortlisting and merit. Raw scores from different shifts can't be compared.

The CBT 1 score only shortlists for CBT 2. Document verification is called on the normalised CBT 2 mark and your post options, at one candidate per vacancy.

Ties: the older candidate ranks higher. Same birth date, and it goes by alphabetical order of the given name, not the surname.

If you were shortlisted under a community, PwBD or ex-servicemen category, you stay in it for every later stage.

Tentative answer keys and your response sheet go up after each CBT with a paid objection window. Download yours while it's open.

Minimum qualifying percentages

Ex-servicemen take their own community's percentage. For PwBD candidates it may be relaxed by 2 marks if there aren't enough of them for the reserved vacancies.

Shortlisting is 15 times the board's community-wise vacancies for CBT 2, then one per vacancy for document verification.

No cut-off marks have been published for CEN 04/2026 yet. Boards put them up with each stage's result, board-wise and per exam group, on the sites linked from rrb.indianrailways.gov.in.

1. Treat CBT 1 as a gate. CBT 2 decides everything, and two thirds of it is your own discipline.
2. Find your exam group first. The technical paper follows the group, not your diploma title.
3. Don't skip the 35 non-technical marks in CBT 2. General Awareness, Physics & Chemistry, Computers and Environment are nearly a quarter of the scoring paper and far quicker to prepare.
4. Environment and Pollution Control is a short syllabus: ten marks for a few hours' work.
5. Mind the one-third penalty in both stages.
6. Use your diploma or degree textbooks for Technical Abilities. The questions are set at course level.
7. Practise on the mock test. RRB doesn't publish past papers. "Previous year" PDFs online are reconstructions from memory, fine for the shape of the paper but don't trust their answer keys.

No previous year papers are available. The Railway Recruitment Boards don't publish them.

Each board puts up a mock test link before the CBT, and answer keys with your response sheet after it. The official FAQs and the CEN syllabus are the closest official guides.

• rrb.indianrailways.gov.in: links to all 21 RRB websites
• CEN 04/2026, detailed notice (PDF)
• Official FAQs for CEN 04/2026 (PDF)
• RRB Chandigarh
• Indian Railways

Do CBT 1 marks count towards the final result?

No. CBT 1 only shortlists for CBT 2, and merit comes from CBT 2.

How much of CBT 2 is technical?

100 of the 150 questions.

Which Technical Abilities paper will I get?

The one for the exam group your qualification maps to in the CEN's mapping table.

Can I apply to more than one board?

No. One application to one board. More than one gets all of them rejected.

Is there an interview?

No. CBT 1, CBT 2, document verification and a medical.

When is age counted?

On 1 January 2027 for CEN 04/2026.