The government announced the reversal of a 2019 decision that had ended the practice of hiring technical and non-technical personnel for Indian Railways through the UPSC Engineering Services Exams (ESE) and UPSC Civil Services Exams (CSE). Instead, a single Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) will now be recruited through the Civil Services Exams. This decision was communicated via an office memorandum from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, which supported a proposal from the Ministry of Railways to return to the previous hiring system.

The office memorandum issued on 5 October stated that, given the specific needs for both technical and non-technical personnel within the Ministry of Railways, the DoPT has granted in-principle approval for recruitment through UPSC-ESE and UPSC-CSE, subject to certain conditions. The necessary modifications to the recruitment rules are to be made in consultation with DoPT and UPSC, with the approval of the competent authority. The memorandum also indicated that UPSC will conduct the recruitments as outlined in the proposal, ensuring that the new scheme does not contradict the Cabinet’s decision from 24 December 2019.

Prior to 2019, UPSC managed the recruitment of engineers into Indian Railways for Group A services through ESE, while non-technical managerial positions were filled through CSE. This practice was abandoned in favour of a single IRMS service, which was recruited exclusively through CSE. The DoPT has now reinstated the previous recruitment method for Indian Railways.

Lalit Chandra Trivedi, a railway consultant and former General Manager at Indian Railways, suggested that the government’s decision to revert to the old system may have been prompted by the increasing number of accidents, failure to meet loading and revenue targets, and issues such as the inability to produce a sleeper version of the Vande Bharat train, which indicated an overall decline in performance.

With the issuance of the memorandum, the DoPT has re-established the recruitment of engineering graduates in various disciplines for Group A services in Indian Railways through the ESE conducted by UPSC. M K Gupta, a former member of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), highlighted this as a "golden opportunity" for recent engineering graduates seeking a career in Indian Railways. He expressed confidence that Indian Railways offers significant opportunities to learn and implement innovative technologies, allowing individuals to contribute meaningfully to the country’s infrastructure.

Gupta had previously stated that the IRMS was “causing more damage in its present form than the perceived advantages” for which it was introduced. He noted that, for various reasons, the IRMS was not the preferred choice among civil service aspirants, which ultimately harmed Indian Railways.

The Indian Railway Management Service was initially launched in December 2019 with considerable enthusiasm, aiming to eliminate the departmental silos that had developed over time due to the existence of five technical cadres (IRSE, IRSME, IRSEE, IRSSE, and IRSS) and three non-technical cadres (IRTS, IRAS, and IRPS).