Career in Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)

The Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) is one of the Group ‘A’ services options, available for candidates who have successfully cleared the UPSC Civil Services Exam. Personnel from this cadre primarily manages the transportation department of the Indian railways. This is the service responsible for revenue generation in the railways. It is the 5th most coveted Group “A” Civil Service. There are two major wings in the traffic service – Operations and Commercial.

The article has information on the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) functions, salaries and career prospects.

Roles & Responsibilities:

1. Coordinating the production and sale of transportation output.
2. Managing the customer interface of railways.
3. In the operations wing, ensuring smooth and fast transportation of freight and passengers.
4. In the commercial wing, an officer has to deal with the sales, pricing, service and marketing aspects of passenger and freight business.
5. An IRTS officer can also be sent on deputation to other ministries and departments under the Central Staffing Scheme.

The IRPS is the youngest Civil Service in India. It was established in 1976 and the first batch of officers recruited through the UPSC Civil Service Exam was in 1980.

Functions:

The IRPS is the only service amongst the Group ‘A’ services to cater to the human resources and personnel management in a department of the Central Government. The functions of the IRPS officers are given below:

1. Personnel Management: manpower planning, recruitment, training, seniority, promotions, transfer, posting, reservation, payments, wages, salary and final settlement.
2. Industrial Relations: maintaining cordial industrial relations, workers’ participation in management, welfare activities and grievance redressal.
3. Legal and court matters: legal work, implementation of labour laws and hours of employment regulation.

Training of Probationary Officers: 
The IRPS probationers undergo training for 93 weeks. This includes a Foundation Course for 15 weeks at the LBSNAA, Mussoorie. After this, they are trained at various other institutes like the National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR), Vadodara, National Academy for Direct Taxes (NADT), Nagpur, etc. The officers have also imparted field training on zonal railways, construction, divisions, organizations and manufacturing units of the Indian Railways.

Career Prospects:
After the training period of Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) cadre, officers will gain the opportunity to climb the ladder in the below-given professional growth trajectory.

1. Railway Division

1. Assistant Personnel Officer
2. Divisional Personnel Officer
3. Senior Division Personnel Officer

2. Zonal Division of Railway Departments

1. Assistant Personnel Officer
2. Senior Personnel Officer
3. Deputy Chief Personnel Officer

3. Zonal Headquarters – Headed by Chief Personnel Officer

4. Zonal Railway Unit – Headed by Principal HOD

5. Other Roles include:

1. Additional Divisional Railway Manager
2. Divisional Railway Manager
3. Chairman of the Railway Board
4. General Manager in higher Administrative Roles

 

Grade & Payscale:

IRPS cadre was formed with the aim of managing a million workforce of Indian Railways. This cadre offers good opportunities for its officers to rise up the ladder.

Below table gives complete details on IRPS grades and respective pay scales

Grade	Railway Staff College	Division	Zonal/ Production Unit HQ	Workshop/ Other Units	Railway Board	GOI under Central Staffing Scheme	Pay Scale
JTS	IRPS(Probationer)/ APO/ Asst. Professor	Assistant Personnel Officer	Assistant Personnel Officer	Assistant Personnel Officer	——	——	Rs.15,600-39100 + Grade Pay Rs.5400
STS	Professor	Divisional Personnel Officer	Senior Personnel Officer	Workshop Personnel Officer/ Senior Personnel Officer	Under Secretary	Under Secretary	Rs.15,600-39,100 + Grade Pay Rs.6600
JAG	Professor	Senior Divisional Personnel Officer	Deputy Chief Personnel Officer	Deputy Chief Personnel Officer	Deputy Secretary	Deputy Secretary	Rs.15,600-39,100 + Grade Pay Rs.7600
SG	Professor	Senior Divisional Personnel Officer	Deputy Chief Personnel Officer	Deputy Chief Personnel Officer	Director	Director	Rs.37,400-67,000 + Grade Pay Rs.8700
SAG	Senior Professor	——	Chief Personnel Officer	Chief Personnel Officer	Executive Director	Joint Secretary	Rs.37,400-67,000 + Grade Pay Rs.10,000
HAG	——	——	Chief Personnel Officer	Chief Personnel Officer	Adviser	Additional Secretary	67000-3%-79000