RRB Engineering Exam Pattern, Papers & Books

Most of the examinees of railway engineering exams (such as the RRB exam for Sr. Section Engineer, Junior Engineer, Senior Supervisor &...

Most of the examinees of railway engineering exams (such as the RRB exam for Sr. Section Engineer, Junior Engineer, Senior Supervisor & Depot Material Superintendent) are in dilemma over what to prepare for the RRB written exam, as not much have been said about the exam pattern or syllabus in the notification. But since the merit list is prepared based on the written test alone (i.e. without any GD/Interview), finding the prep materials for RRB engineering exam – Sample papers and prep books is of paramount importance to succeed.

This blog post is therefore being made to help you prepare for the RRB written exam for engineers (including JE).  In the latest recruitment notification by RRB, if you see the eligibility, you would find that there are broadly two groups of posts, based on qualification:

1.0 Degree in Engineering: Sr. Section Engineer, Chief Depot Mat. Superintendent

2.0 Diploma in Engineering: Junior Engineer, Senior Supervisor & Depot Material Superintendent.

Therefore, your preparation should be based accordingly – depending on which positions you have applied for.

First let us discuss the pattern of RRB exam for engineers.

Pattern RRB Written Exam for Engineers: 

As said not much has been said about the pattern of RRB written exam in the notification other than the following:

The written exam will consist of following two groups of test sections:

1.0 Aptitude Test: It will have test sections on General Awareness, Arithmetic, General Intelligence and Reasoning.

2.0 Technical Test: It will have questions on the specific engineering branch.

There are total 150 Objective Type questions to be answered in 2 hours. There is negative marking - 1/3rd of the allotted marks for each question.

Other than above, the notification does not says there would be how many questions in each test section or marks per question. But you can expect either half or more than half weightage to be given for Technical Test – may be about 60% marks would be for Technical Test and the rest for Aptitude Test.

Syllabus for RRB Written Exam for Engineers:

As given in the notification, the syllabus for the exam would conform to the syllabus of Degree level engineering for Degree level posts and Diploma level engineering for Diploma level posts. No specific syllabus has been prescribed either for engineering or for aptitude test sections.

Sample papers for RRB Written Exam for Engineers:

I had searched on the net for the sample papers/ previous years exam papers specific to RRB exam – but quality of the sample papers are not that good and also not authentic. The findings are as below:

50 General awareness questions from entrance-exam.net: Click here to find the same

100 General awareness questions from RRB ASM Written Exam 2010 Paper from ihelpstudy.com: Click here to find the same.

100 General awareness questions from rrbsolvedpapers: Click here to find the same.

40 General awareness questions from wiziq.com: Click here to find the same.

In absence of authentic exam papers, I would advise you to go for similar test sections of other competitive exams – such as the ones I am giving below for bank PO exams:

Sample paper for Test of Reasoning:

You can check the previous blog post of mine titled: Test of Reasoning: Sample Question papers & Books, which not only tells you about the four types of Test of reasoning (Numerical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning & Diagrammatic Reasoning), but also gives you sample papers and books for the test of reasoning.

Prep Books for RRB Written Exam for Engineers:

As you have found out above, sample papers available on the net for RRB exams are not of that high standard or authentic. Hence if you want to prepare seriously for RRB Engineering Exam, you have to take help of the guide books.

What books are available on the market  for RRB Engineering Exam? I searched on the net and found the following books. These books should be available in most of the good bookstores. But if you do not find the, just order them online by clicking the links below from Flipkart.com which offers huge discounts upto 25% apart from free shipping/postage if the order exceeds Rs. 200/=. You can choose to pay through Credit Card/Debit Card/Internet Banking. You can also choose to pay through “Cash-on-Delivery” i.e. you pay in cash only when the same is delivered at your doorstep:

Prep Books for RRB Written Exam for Sr. Section Engineer etc.:
Railway (Technical Engineering Cadre) Examination Guide by RPH Editorial Board
Cover Price: Rs. 250 Offer Price: Rs. 188 Discount: Rs. 62 (25%)
RRB Railway Bharti Board Engineering Cadre Guide (Hindi) by RPH Editorial Board
Cover Price: Rs. 250
This is a guide book for all Engineering streams along with Aptitude test sections & Solve RRB exam papers.

Practice work books specific to the engineering discipline:
Railway Civil Engineering Practice Work Book by Kiran Prakashan Price: Rs. 395
Railway Civil Engineering Practice Work Book (Hindi) by Kiran Prakashan Price: Rs. 395

Guide to RRB Electrical Engg. by Gk Publisher  Price: Rs. 540

RRB Mechanical Engineering PWB  by Kiran Prakashan Price: Rs. 395
Guide To RRB Electronics & Telecommunication Engg.By GK Publisher Price: Rs. 540

Prep Books for RRB Written Exam for Junior Engineers (JE) etc.:

Guide to RRB Civil Engineering (Junior Engg. Grade-2) by Gk Publisher
Cover Price: Rs. 395 Offer Price: Rs. 316 Discount: Rs. 79 (20%)
Guide to RRB Mechanical Engineering (Junior Engg. Grade-2) by Gk Publisher
Cover Price: Rs. 395 Offer Price: Rs. 316 Discount: Rs. 79 (20%)
Guide to RRB Electrical Engineering (Junior Engg. Grade-2) by Gk Publisher
Cover Price: Rs. 395 Offer Price: Rs. 308 Discount: Rs. 87 (22%)
Guide to RRB Electronics Engineering (Junior Engg. Grade-2) by Gk Publisher
Cover Price: Rs. 395 Offer Price: Rs. 316 Discount: Rs. 79 (20%)

Hope with exam prep materials for the RRB Written Exam for Engineers, you can prepare for the same easily and crack the exam. I would love to listen from your exam experience and request you to post the same as comments below. Also, I would be on the look out for more exam resources and post the same here when I find them on the net. Please visit me again. Best wishes!

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