Railway Departmental Competitive Examinations (GDCE, LDCE and Departmental Selections)
Indian Railways fills part of its vacancies from serving employees through departmental examinations: the General Departmental Competitive Examination (GDCE), run by each zone's Railway Recruitment Cell for 25% of direct-recruitment vacancies of posts such as Junior Engineer, Assistant Loco Pilot, Technician and Train Manager, and promotional selections and Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations (LDCE / DPQ quotas) held by zonal railways and divisions for Group C posts and for Group B officer posts under the 70% selection / 30% LDCE quotas. Only regular railway employees can apply. The GDCE pattern below is from Southern Railway's 2023 GDCE notification; papers for divisional selections and Group B LDCE are set separately by each zone and their pattern varies from post to post, so no single official pattern is given for those stages.
Eligibility (summary)
Post-group CBT for serving employees against the GDCE quota (JE; ALP/Technician with Part A, Part B and aptitude test for ALP; Guard/Train Manager), followed by document verification and medical examination
Written test or CBT/TBT for promotion of serving Group C staff (DPQ, LDCE and intermediate quotas such as Senior Clerk, CCTC, JE, Technician, Train Manager, Instructor) conducted by RRCs, zonal headquarters and divisions
Written examination for promotion of Group C staff to Group B officer posts (AEN, AEE, AME, ACM, AOM, APO, AMM, AFA and others) under the 70% selection and 30% LDCE quotas
Summarised from the official notification. Patterns change; confirm in the latest notice.
Junior Engineer
| Section | QsQuestions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Awareness | 15 | 15 | — |
| Physics & Chemistry | 15 | 15 | — |
| Basics of Computers and Applications | 10 | 10 | — |
| Basics of Environment and Pollution Control | 10 | 10 | — |
| Technical Abilities | 100 | 100 | — |
| Total | 150 | 150 | 120 minutes |
Assistant Loco Pilot / Technician
| Section | QsQuestions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Part A: Mathematics, Reasoning, Basic Science and Engineering, General Awarenessused for merit | 100 | 90 minutes |
| Part B: ITI trade syllabusqualifying, 35% | 75 | 60 minutes |
| Computer Based Aptitude Test (ALP only)42 in each test battery; ALP merit 70% Part A + 30% aptitude test | — | — |
Guard / Train Manager
| Section | QsQuestions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Awareness | 40 | 40 | — |
| Mathematics | 30 | 30 | — |
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 30 | 30 | — |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 90 minutes |
Southern Railway GDCE Notification No. RRC/SR/C-GDCE/2023 dated 30.07.2023 · official source
PYQSathi lists 662 Railway GDCE / LDCE papers from 2013 to 2026, each linked to its official source. Open the paper library above and pick a year.
Railway GDCE / LDCE is conducted by the Railway Recruitment Cells and Zonal Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India. Notifications, dates and results are published on its official website.
No. PYQSathi is independent. We summarise official documents and link to them, last checked 12 Oct 2026. Always confirm on the official website before applying.
Last verified 12 Oct 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
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