The Indian Railway Traffic Service, abbreviated as IRTS, is a Group 'A' Central Civil Service cadre of the Government of India. IRTS in its present form was reconstituted in 1967. The IRTS cadre functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, Government of India. The civil servants under this service are responsible for the operation and business development of Indian Railways in the country. On one hand, IRTS officers co-ordinate among various technical departments of the Indian Railways, while on the other hand, they form the public interface of the Indian Railways. Colloquially called Traffic Officers, they are the primary facilitators of railway services right from planning of freight movement, passenger transport, passenger amenities to station management and infrastructure planning.
Traffic Department is responsible for optimum utilization of Railway assets and their seamless integration to provide a swift and safe transportation service and consequent realization of revenues in-line with the social obligations of the Indian Railways.
Traffic Department comprises two branches: Operations – deals with rail passenger and freight train logistics Commercial – deals with revenue earnings of railways Officers may be shifted from one branch to another based on organisational requirements throughout their career.
History With the growing network and increasing traffic, the British Govt. recognized the need for a separate Traffic Department for handling train operations. The Traffic Service was created in the year in 1889 that was further strengthened in 1906. Earlier, an exclusive service reserved for English officers, admission into the cadre was thrown open to all post-Independence.
Initially known as "Officers of the Superior Revenue Establishment of the Traffic, Transportation and Commercial Department of Indian Railways", the service, on 4 March 1967 was rechristened "Indian Railway Traffic Service".
The logo The redesigned logo prominently features the following components Ashok stambh in gold. Pair of hands strongly holding up the Chakra signifying moving the nation towards prosperity and development. A logo to represent the legacy of IRTS while highlighting its role in nation building in the times to come.
Recruitment There are two modes of recruitment to IRTS Group 'A': 50% through direct recruitment through the annual Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC. 50% through promotion from Group B officers of Operating and Commercial departments of the Zonal Railways. Current cadre strength of IRTS officers is around 900, serving in 68 divisions across 17 Zonal Railways in India and the Railway Board
Training After selection, the IRTS probationers undergo Foundation training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), along with trainees of IAS, IPS and other Civil Services.
IRTS probationers then report to their Centralized Training Institute (CTI) - Indian Railways Institute for Transportation Management, Lucknow (IRITM) for joining formalities and induction into the cadre as Officer Trainees or Probationary Officers. This is followed by visit to a host of academies and institutions, over a period of next 78 weeks, to give wide-ranging exposure to officer trainees which would be useful in their career as railway officers. Some of these institutions include-
Operations and Commercial Training at Indian Railways Institute for Transport Management, Lucknow (IRITM) Railway Foundation Course at National Academy of Indian Railway (NAIR), Vadodara. Operations Training at Zonal Railway Training Institute (ZRTI), Udaipur Marketing Management and Transport Economics at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Operations Research at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Tourism and Hospitality management Training at Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Training at Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Academy, Ghaziabad Accounts Training at Centralised Training Academy for Railway Accounts (C-TARA), Secundarabad Secretariat Training at Institute for Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM), New Delhi Ethical Governance Training at Initiatives of Change (IofC), Panchgani Accounts Training at National Academy Of Audit and Accounts (NAAA), Shimla Metro Rail Training at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), New Delhi Military Logistics Training at Sena Bhavan, New Delhi Appreciation program at Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun Container Logistics Training at Inland Container Depot (ICD), Tughlaqabad Signals and Tele-communications Training at Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET), Secundarabad P-Way, Works and Contract Management Training at Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering (IRICEN), Pune Locomotive, Rolling Stock and Workshop Management Training at Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE), Jamalpur Electric Traction and Railway Electrification Management Training at Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRIEEN), Nashik Infrastructure Security Management Training at Jagjivan Ram Railway Protection Force Academy (JRRPF), Lucknow Railway Information Infrastructure Management Training at Centre for Railway information systems (CRIS), New Delhi Parliamentary Procedures Training at Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST), New Delhi Divisional attachments at 68 divisions spread across the length and breadth of the country Industrial Field visits – Coal India, Aditya Birla Cements, TATA, Bhilai Steel Plant Port Attachments – Paradip, Vishakhapatnam, JNPT, Mangalore, Krishnapatnam, Ennore etc. Appreciation Visits to various Railway establishments situated in difficult terrains – Konkan Railways, K-K Line, Shimla-Kalka Toy Train, Nilgiri Railway, Udhampur-Srinagar, Pamban Bridge Appreciation program at Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun Appreciation program at Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun Appreciation program at Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun Foreign attachment with Deutsche Bahn and Siemens Mobility in Germany
Role and function The role of an IRTS officer in the Operations Department is that of ensuring efficient, safe and user friendly transportation of freight and passengers. He/She ensures optimum utilization of railway's assets by maximizing output with available inputs. This is achieved by coordinating with the service departments looking after various assets of railways like track, wagons, engines, signals, etc. He/She combines the outputs of the various departments maintaining the assets – rolling stock and fixed infrastructure to produce a service output – passenger or freight transport. This is done through the Control Office, which is said to be the nerve center of Railways, under the direct superintendence of IRTS officers posted in Operations Department.
In the Commercial Department, an IRTS officer is responsible for revenue realization for various services offered by Indian Railways. The commercial department reviews past sales and profit performance; assess the potential of the railways for improved performance and traffic growth, relative to competitors; develop a program of action to achieve projected growth in traffic; define or redefine marketing objectives; specify sales, pricing and promotional strategies to increase traffic; and establish methods and systems to monitor performance. The department is also concerned with provisioning of passenger amenities and redressal of customer complaints. Various passenger amenities in Railway Stations and Trains, like catering, stalls on the Railway Stations, services in trains and stations etc. come under the superintendence of IRTS Officers working in the Commercial Department.
Being the first point of contact with the Rail users they are the agents of change in the Railway system by conveying user expectations. The information technology requirement of passenger ticketing and freight realization is also managed by IRTS officers in the zonal headquarters in association with the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).
The role changes depending on where an officer is placed in the organization – Division (Operational level) - Real action in terms of implementation of policies occur here Zone (Tactical level) - Collation of Data, chasing of targets Railway Board (Strategic level) - Policy making and National Priorities of Railways vis-à-vis industries and other modes of transport IRTS officers go for Deputation in various ministries of Government of India. They are particularly sought after for their exceptional work ethic and result oriented functioning. IRTS officers are also preferred in projects related to infrastructure and marshaling of technical resources.
The opening up of Indian economy has brought a paradigm shift in the role of IRTS officers – from rail transport to logistics. They have been instrumental in raising the earnings of Indian Railways through efficient freight movement and improved passenger transport which are conducted 24x7 non-stop.
Hierarchy Grade Designation in the field Designation in Headquarters Basic pay Apex Scale (Pay level 17) Chairman & CEO, Railway BoardSecretary Higher Administrative Grade (+) (Pay level 16) General ManagerAdditional Secretary Member (Operations & Business Development), Railway Board — Higher Administrative Grade (Pay level 15) Principal Chief Operations Manager / Principal Chief Commercial Manager Additional Member, Railway BoardAdditional Secretary — Senior Administrative Grade (Pay level 14) Chief Operations Manager / Chief Commercial Manager Executive DirectorJoint Secretary — Junior Administrative Grade (Functional) (Pay level 13) Senior Divisional Operations Manager / Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Director — Senior Time Scale (Non Functional) (Pay level 12) Divisional Operations Manager / Divisional Commercial Manager (Selection Grade) Joint DirectorDeputy Secretary — Senior Time Scale (Pay level 11) Divisional Operations Manager / Divisional Commercial Manager Deputy DirectorUnder Secretary — Junior Time Scale (Pay level 10) Assistant Divisional Operations Manager / Assistant Divisional Commercial Manager Assistant DirectorAssistant Secretary —
Generally, direct recruit officers are appointed in the Operations Department. They can also be posted in Indian Railway's major Railway Yards & Areas where they look after both Operations and Commercial aspects. In the present context, IRTS officers have better promotional avenues in initial stages among other Central Services. Also, due to Selection Grade being non-functional in Railways, all Railway Officers remain field level executives for relatively longer periods of time which make them quite effective at policy making.
Challenges and opportunities
Movement of trains in a country as vast, diverse and dynamic as India poses a lot of challenges. Solving these challenges in real-time by coordinating with various department of railways, district authorities, society at large and business entities requires acumen for problem solving and knack for optimization. It is the foremost responsibility of IRTS Officers that the wheel on the rail must not come to a halt.
Railway transportation, being the most energy efficient and convenient over large distances is going to see increased patronization, by passengers and businesses alike, in the coming decades. Movement of this increased traffic over vast but capacity constrained Indian Railway network is going to be challenging for IRTS Officers to organize
Distinguished officers
Shyamal Ghosh Dastidar