Southern Railway Act Apprentice Recruitment 2026

Southern Railway, Carriage & Wagon Works, Perambur, Chennai has released the Act Apprentice Recruitment 2026 notification for training in designated trades. The recruitment is being conducted under the Apprentices Act, 1961, and applications are invited online from eligible candidates in the Fresher and Ex-ITI categories. Interested candidates should note that this notification is for apprenticeship training and does not guarantee employment.

The recruitment is for a total of 4,471 Act Apprentice posts, split into 163 vacancies for Fresher candidates and 4,308 vacancies for Ex-ITI candidates. The online application window is open from 2026-08-28 to 2026-09-27 (17:00 hrs). Applications must be submitted online only through the official portal. Selection will be made on the basis of a merit list prepared from Matriculation/ITI marks (and relevant higher secondary marks for the MLT category), followed by document verification for shortlisted candidates.

Important Dates

Vacancy Details

The notification includes trade-wise and unit-wise vacancies for Act Apprentices across Southern Railway workshops/divisions/units within its geographical jurisdiction.

Fresher Category

Ex-ITI Category

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates must meet the educational requirements for their applied trade/category and also satisfy the age criteria mentioned in the notification. In addition, only candidates residing in specified locations within Southern Railway’s jurisdiction are eligible to apply.

Educational Qualification

Fresher Category

Ex-ITI Category

Important notes on eligibility

• The minimum 50% marks requirement in 10th standard is not applicable for SC/ST/PwBD candidates.
• Candidates who have completed Act Apprentices, engineering graduates/diploma holders, or vocational certificate holders with 1+ year of training/job experience after qualification are not eligible.

Age Limit

The minimum age for applying is 15 years. The maximum age differs by category: for Fresher candidates, the maximum age is 22 years, while for Ex-ITI/MLT candidates, the maximum age is 24 years.

Age relaxation is available as follows: OBC (NCL) candidates get 3 years relaxation, SC/ST candidates get 5 years relaxation, and PwBD candidates get 10 years relaxation. For combined categories, PwBD + OBC (NCL) gets 13 years relaxation, and PwBD + SC/ST gets 15 years relaxation.

Application Fee

Candidates must retain a printout of the fee payment acknowledgement, as it is required to be submitted at the time of document verification.

How to Apply

1. Go to the official website and navigate to News & Updates → Personnel Branch Information.
2. Open the Act Apprentice Recruitment 2026 application link and fill in the online application form with accurate personal and educational details.
3. Ensure the application is submitted within the window 28 August 2026 to 27 September 2026 (17:00 hrs).
4. Pay the processing fee online if applicable, and keep the payment acknowledgement/receipt safely.
5. Review the application before final submission, submit it online, and retain the confirmation/printout for future reference and document verification.

Direct Apply Online Link: https://sronline.etrpindia.com/rrcchennaiapprentice26/recruitmentIndex

Salary & Pay Scale

As per the notification, the stipend increases by 10% in the second year and by a further 15% in the third year of training (over the prescribed minimum).

Selection Process

Selection will be based on a merit list prepared from marks as per category. For the Fresher category, Matriculation marks are converted to 200, with a minimum 50% aggregate requirement (the 50% requirement is not applicable for SC/ST/PwBD candidates). For the Ex-ITI category, Matriculation marks are converted to 100 and ITI marks are converted to 100, giving equal weightage to both for a total of 200. For the MLT category, higher secondary marks (with Physics, Chemistry, Maths & Biology) are converted to 200. In case of a tie, the older candidate is preferred first; if the date of birth is also the same, the candidate who passed Matriculation earlier is considered senior.

Eligible candidates should complete their online application between 28 August 2026 and 27 September 2026 (17:00 hrs) to be considered for the apprenticeship training under Southern Railway.