The Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE) is a prestigious Group ‘A’ service of Indian Railways. The officers of IRSSE cadre are responsible for the overall administrative, technical and managerial functions associated with the Signal & Telecommunication (S&T) department of the Indian Railways.
There are 8 Organised Group ‘A’ services in Indian Railways and IRSSE is one of them. Other organised Group ‘A’ service in Railways are Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers(IRSME), Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS), Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE).
Role & Functions:
The Signal & Telecommunication (S&T) department of Indian Railways is managed completely by IRSSE officers. They are responsible for safe and punctual running of trains. The S&T departments plays the vital role in optimum utilisation of fixed & moving railway assets, like trains, stations, locomotives etc. Basically, the nature of job is techno-managerial.
The operation of trains is only possible by the signalling equipment installed & maintained by the S&T department. S&T equipment & circuits are designed in fail-safe manner.
Recruitment & Training:
IRSSE officers are mainly Electronics and Communication Engineers and they are recruited through the Engineering Service Examination (ESE), conducted every year by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
After Recruitment, the IRSSE probationers are given 18 months’ intensive training in various training institutes of the Indian Railways. Most of the training for IRSSE officers is imparted by the Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunication (IRISET), Secunderabad.
IRISET, the institute was setup in 1957 by the Ministry of Railways and is located in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Location of IRISET, Secunderabad on Google Map: Click Here
The institute imparts specialised training to the Indian Railways’ supervisors and officers in Railway Signalling and Telecommunication.
Basic Areas of Training:
Basics of Railway Signalling, Interlocking plans & Locking Concepts, Mechanical Signalling, Signalling Specifications, Construction & Maintenance Practices, Procedures Related to Safety , Power supply arrangements, Relays & Cables, Dataloggers, Tenders & Contracts.
Block working, All kinds of Block Instruments, IBS, Automatic Signalling, Signalling in 25KV AC electrified sections.
Colour light Signalling Concepts, Control Tables, Electric point machines, interlocking systems with metal to carbon contact relays.
Interlocking systems with metal to metal contact relays (complete), Track Detection Devices (Track Circuits and Axle Counters), Electronic interlocking , AWS, TPWS, ETCS, ACD.
Telecom Cables, Power plants, Exchanges, Signalling in Telecom, Train Traffic Control, Passenger information systems, Earthing & Surge protection, wave propagation, Antenna, Radio Communication equipments, Communication for disaster- management.
Multiplexing – both Analog & Digital , SDH, Optical Fibre Systems, Mobile Train Radio Communication, Data – Communication and Networking, Data networks on IR.
Important designations of IRSSE officers:
An IRSSE officer joins Railways as ASTE/ADSTE on Junior Scale post and can rise upto the post of GM, Member and CRB/CEO of Railway Board. Normally all the directly recruited IRSSE officers get the chance to reach upto PCSTE level. PCSTE is the overall in-charge of the S&T department at the Zonal level.
At Apex level (Railway Board)
Member/Infra: Member Infrastructure. Earlier it was called Member (Signal & Telecom) and was responsible only for the working of the S&T department. After restructuring the post is re-designated as Member/Infra and officers of IRSSE & IRSE cadre can hold the post.
AM/Signal: Additional Member/Signal
AM/Tele: Additional Member/Telecom
ED: Executive Directors
Directors
At Zonal HQ level-
PCSTE (Principal Chief Signal & Telecom Engineer)
CSE (Chief Signal Engineer),
CCE (Chief Communication Engineer),
CSTE (Planning),
CSTE(Projects) and
CSTE(Construction)
Dy. CSTE/Signal
SSTE
ASTE
At Divisional level-
Sr.DSTE/Co. (Senior Divisional Signal & Telecom Engineer/Coordination)
Sr.DSTE (Senior Divisional Signal & Telecom Engineer)
DSTE (Divisional Signal & Telecom Engineer)
ADSTE (Assistant Divisional Signal & Telecom Engineer)
IRSSE UPSC Direct Batches:
” Starting from the UPSC batch 1979 upto probationers of batch-2016, information of the all the IRSSE batches is provided here below. Best of our efforts has been made to update the information and to provide the correct information. Hope you may find it important and helpful. Some of the batches are too short as 2 officers only and some are as big as more than 30 members. so, based on the requirement recruitment of officers has been done by UPSC.“
The Committee on ‘Review of Electronic Interlocking (EI) Application Data Design for Achieving Uniformity Across Approved Vendors’ has examined the design process adopted by the RDSO listed vendors and submitted the recommendations and the roadmap for achieving uniformity in data design across the vendors.