In today’s fast-moving world, everyone wants a job that is both good-paying and allows us to live comfortably. For the search for these jobs, a lot of people go to private firms and various people, for comfort, start their businesses.

But both of these paths don’t have one thing and i.e job security.  As a result, the younger generation prioritises government jobs as their top goal. Government jobs provide both good-paying and job security.

However, as we all know, government jobs have very high competitive, and the number of available positions is limited, making it more difficult to obtain government employment.

But what if I say there is one government position with relatively low competition and also has plenty of vacancies, and that job is loco pilot jobs.

As we all know, Indian railways are overseen by the Ministry of Railways of India, which employs lakhs of people each year.

Loco pilot is one of the jobs offered by the Indian Railways. So in this blog, we will talk about how to become a loco pilot in detail.

So let’s get started on the topic.

Who is a loco pilot?

Many of you may be familiar with the term loco pilot. But I’ll go over them again so that people who don’t know about them may learn about it.

While travelling on the railways, there is a high probability that you have seen the engine of the train in which you have seen the person who is sitting in it and controlling the train.

A lot of people in India refer to them as “train drivers”. But actually, there is a term for them, and it is “Loco Pilot.” Here, “loco” means “railway” or “train,” and “pilot” means someone who drives.

A loco pilot is a person who is responsible for driving the train smoothly and taking the passengers to their destination. They are responsible for passenger safety during travel.

Here one thing is should be noted that you can’t directly get a loco pilot. This is because a loco pilot job is a promotional job where you get a promotion after gaining some experience

To become a loco pilot, you must first apply for an assistant loco pilot position, where you will work for a period of time before being promoted to senior loco pilot.

Once enough experience has been gained, you will be promoted to loco pilot jobs.

Loco pilot is not the last position in this job. There will be further promotions following this. After a specific amount of time and experience as a loco pilot, one is promoted to the position of power controller, crew controller, loco fireman, or loco supervisor.

So in this way, the journey from Assistant Loco Pilot to Loco Pilot is decided and many promotions come ahead of it.

So, now that we’ve grasped the method, let’s look at what an Assistant Loco Pilot is. And how does one go about getting this job?

You might also be interested in another railway jobs:-

How to become a Ticket Collector (TC) in railways

Who is the assistant loco pilot?

The assistant loco pilot job is the first employment opportunity that one gains during the course of the loco pilot job. To become a loco pilot, one has to undergo the examination that is set by the RRB (Railway Recruitment Board).

The position of Assistant Loco Pilot, or ALP, is usually advertised under Group C, and the role of Assistant Loco Pilot, or ALP, on the railways, is crucial.

Because the Assistant Pilot assists the Loco Pilot, in handling all activities linked to the train’s proper operation.

The Assistant Pilot is in charge of providing signals and monitoring the loco’s performance (i.e., engine).

So let’s see the steps to follow to become a loco pilot.

Steps to become Loco Pilot

1.  Meet the Eligibility Criteria

The very first step to becoming a loco pilot is to meet the eligibility criteria, i.e., age limit and nationality. This eligibility is set by the Railway Recruitment Board. Let’s see them one by one.

1.  Nationality

To become an assistant loco pilot in India one must be an Indian national. Apart from that candidates of the nationality of Nepal and Bhutan can also apply for this job.

Also, Tibetan refugees arriving in India before 1 January 1962 for permanent settlement are eligible for this job.

2.  Age Limit

For applying for the loco pilot, certain eligibility criteria are set by the government for candidates. These eligibility criteria are mentioned below. –

A candidate applying for Loco Pilot Jobs must be over the age of 18 and under the age of 28.

Age relaxation is provided to OBC and SC/ST students. Let’s see them one by one.

For OBC:

A candidate from the Other Backward Caste must be between the ages of 18 and 33.

For SC/ST:

A candidate from a Schedule caste or tribe must be 18 years old or less than 35 years old.

Note:-Eligibility conditions are subject to change. As a result, it would be beneficial if you went to the official RRB website at least once.

2. Education Qualification

The education qualification that is required to become a loco pilot is that you need a 10th or 12th grade from a recognised education board.

Also, hold an ITI certificate from a college that is recognised by the National Council of Vocational Training.

OR

Need to hold a diploma in any one of the mentioned courses:-

• Diploma mechanical
• Diploma electronics
• Diploma Electrical
• Diploma automobile

If you meet both the eligibility and qualification criteria, then you are all set to apply for the entrance exam.

3.  Entrance exam

To apply for the assistant loco pilot post, you need to go through the entrance exam producer. Again, this exam is offered and conducted by the railway recruitment board.

Three exams are administered throughout the year and are termed as

• Computer Based Test (CBT 1)
• Computer Based Test (CBT 2)
• Computer-Based Aptitude Test (CBAT)

Negative marking is used in both levels of (CBT) tests, i.e., CBT 1 and CBT 2.

After passing both the (CBT 1) and (CBT 2) examinations, the applicant is qualified to take the (CBAT) test.

The CBAT is an aptitude based exam that assesses candidates ability to complete tasks and respond to work-related events. This comprises, problem-solving, prioritisation, and numerical abilities.

4.  Document verification

After you pass your exam, the last procedure is document verification. Here, your documents are verified, and they check whether they are legit.

Hence, it becomes very important to provide all your original documents so that processes go smoothly and your selection happens easily.

If you complete all of the processes, you will be handed a job joining letter. Where your job joining date and location are mentioned.

Salary of Loco Pilot

On average in India, a loco pilot earn around ₹36,619. The highest salary for a Loco Pilot in India is ₹90,996 per month. The lowest salary for a Loco Pilot in India is ₹19,997 per month.

Below, I have mentioned the salary of each type of loco pilot in detail.

Conclusion

Making a career as a loco pilot is one of the best steps that you can take in your life if you are interested in railway jobs.

As India is a developing country, infrastructure changes are going around the country rapidly. The Indian government is now concentrating its efforts on transportation infrastructure in order to boost imports and export across the country.

Due to this, many new railway lines are being laid down in the entire country. Hence, the demand for loco pilot jobs will increase spontaneously.

In this blog, I have tried to explain every possible step that should be followed to become a loco pilot in India, and I hope you have understood each step.