Exam Overview

Eligibility Criteria

UG posts

12th pass, age minimum 18, maximum 30 years (as on notification)

Graduate posts

Bachelor’s degree, age minimum 18, maximum 33 years (as on notification)

Typing Test

Clerk/Typist posts only (30 wpm English/25 wpm Hindi)

CBAT

Required for Station Master/Traffic Assistant posts only

Physical/Medical

As per post; med standards strict for Guard, ASM, TA

Nationality

Indian or as per RRB norms

Age relaxation

OBC (+3), SC/ST (+5), PwD (+10), Ex-SM (as per official rules).

Application Process

Mode

Online through RRB zone portal (see rrbcdg.gov.in "RRBs" for zone links).
Application dates (example 2025): Window typically 4 weeks; correction window 2–3 days for basic fields

Application fee

₹500 (Gen/OBC/EWS; ₹400 refunded on appearance in CBT 1); ₹250 (SC/ST/PwD/Ex-SM/Women/EWS/Minority; full refund upon appearance)

Steps

(1) Visit RRB portal, (2) Register new user, (3) Fill personal and academic details, (4) Choose post and zone, (5) Upload photo, signature, marksheets, degree and category/PwD docs if applicable, (6) Pay fee online, (7) Submit and save receipt

Required documents

Passport photo, signature, 10th/12th marksheet, degree (for grad posts), category/PwD/age certificate if applicable

Correction

Only basic details/post choice can be updated during window; refunds automatic after CBT 1 attendance.

Total Applicants

2025: ~1.23 crore (12.3 million);
2021: 1.26 crore;
2019: 1.25 crore;
Always one of India’s largest competitive exams—heavy participation in major railway zones.

Cutoff Analysis

CBT

General/UR

78–93

OBC

72–88

64–82

58–78

Success Rate Analysis

Year 2019

Similar trend, with marginally more posts.

Year 2021

1.25 crore registered, ~35,000 selected (~0.03%).

Year 2025

1.23 crore registered, <9,000 selected (<0.01% final selection)

Previous Year Trends

2025

Cutoff up sharply, seats down; GA increasingly focused on current railway/government schemes. CBT 2 now puzzle/reasoning heavy, quantitative multi-step; strict normalization—zone-wise prediction unreliable. Vast majority pass CBT 1, but filtering at CBT 2 and skill stages more severe. Skill/Medical bottleneck holds back 30% of eligible applicants.

Previous Year Analysis

Topper streak

Regular PYQ, strict error logs, focused, limited sources. Skill/typing failure rate rising—30% fail at skill stage for Clerk/SM/TA.

Subject Breakdown

CBT 1
•* Mathematics: 30 Q/30 M
•
Reasoning: Puzzle/Series/Analogy 42%, Coding-Decoding 8%, Logic/Syllogism 10%, Miscellaneous 20%
•
General Awareness: 50 Q/50 M
Topic-wise weightage (CBT 1)
•Mathematics: Arithmetic 50%, DI/Mensuration 10%, Algebra 10%, Others 30%
•
GA: Current Affairs/Railways 45%, Static GK 25%, Science/Tech 10%, Computer/Misc 15%
CBT 2
•* Mathematics: 35 Q/35 M
Topic-wise weightage (CBT 2)
•Mathematics: Arithmetic 55%, Algebra 13%, DI/Mensuration 10%, Others 22%

RRB NTPC