Indian Railway Traffic Service

Central Civil Service India

The Indian Railway Traffic Service, abbreviated as IRTS is a Prestigious 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 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.

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".

Position in the Government of IndiaDivisionZoneRailway BoardJunior Time ScaleAOM/ACM/AO/ADSOATM/Assistant DirectorSenior Time ScaleDOM/DCM/ARM/DSODTM/Deputy DirectorJunior Administrative Grade/Selection GradeSr. DOM/Sr. DCM/Sr. DSODy. COM/Dy. CCM/ Dy. CSOJoint Director/DirectorSenior Administrative GradeADRM/DRMCFTM/CPTM/CCM/CSOExecutive DirectorHigher Administrative GradeDRMPCOM/PCCM/PCSOAdvisor / Additional MemberHigher Administrative Grade +General ManagerMember Operations & Business DevelopmentApex ScaleChairman of Railway Board

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.

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

Shri Vinoo Narain Mathur was honored as distinguished alumnus on 66th foundation day of NAIR. He is from IRTS 1971 batch and in his illustrious career of 36 years on Railways, besides other responsibilities, he worked as senior professor Mgt./NAIR, DRM/Dhanbad, secretary Railway Board, GM/NR and finally member traffic. He made significant contributions to railway working in various capacities. After superannuation, he guided Bharuch Dahez rail Corporation Ltd. From 2009 to 2014. Presently, he is member and senior advisor to Japan International Consultation Agency for transport and contributing to the construction of first high speed corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Shri Shyamal Ghosh Dastidar belongs to 1969 batch of IRTS Officers. He has been an officer, who always successfully experimented with new ideas and innovation into the system, and benefited the organisation immensely. He served in various capacities, which included Sr. DOM/Dhanbad division, DRM/Bilaspur division, COM/South Central Railway and GM/Central Railway. Working as Member Traffic from 2005 to 2007, he made exemplary contributions in the turnaround of economic status of the organisation. He also led the development of work for preparing the blueprint for dedicated freight corridors. For his tireless and innovating efforts for the development of railway business and economy of the country, Shri Ghosh Dastidar was honoured with the title Padmashree.

Shri Shukla is a senior officer of 1979 batch of Indian Railway Traffic Service. He has held important positions in the Indian Railways, like chief passenger traffic manager and chief safety officer, Northern Railway; Divisional Railway Manger, Dhanbad, East Central Railway; chief operations manager, North Western Railway and South East Central Railway; additional general manager, East Central Railway. He started writing short articles in Hindi as well as in English since college time and more than 100 articles written by him were published in various magazines and newspapers during college/university period between 1973 and 1978. Some of the books in English authored by Shri Shukla include (i) Silent Raindrop – Collection of poetry, (ii) Philosophy of Bhagvada Gita, and (iii) Four Lane Expressway to Stress Management and Happiness and some of popular books written by him in Hindi are: Taj Mahal ka Tender (Play), Doosra Adhyay (Play) and Pratibodh (1977) (Poem) and Prashnchihan (Collection of poems). He won Sahitya Kala Parishad National Award for his play Doosra Adhyaya, Mohan Rakesh Samman by Sahitya Kala Parishad for his play Taj Mahal Ka Tender and National Award by All India Radio (Akashvani 2000) for Play Hum Hongey Kaamyaab. Shri Shukla has many e books to his credit which include (i) Yoga Karma to Nirvana,(ii) Awakening, (iii) Silent Raindrops, (iv) Muddle Management (v) My Life; as a Ghost and (vi) Four Lane Expressway to Stress Management and Happiness.

Ananda Shankar Jayant is an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, scholar and bureaucrat, known for her proficiency in the classical dance forms of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She is the first woman officer in the Indian Railway Traffic Service on South Central Railway and her 2009 TED talk is ranked among the top twelve Incredible TED talks on cancer.