The Indian Railways are broadly organised from functional groups within the Indian Railway Service. India's rail system is managed at a regional level since Indian Railways have divided themselves into eighteen zonal railways. Each zone, headed by a General Manager, is semi-autonomous and this creates a matrix organisation where the functional branches are under dual control viz. Operational Control at Zonal level Functional Policy & Guidance from the Railway Board Railway Board At the apex of the management organisation is the Railway Board, a part of the Ministry of Railways. The board is headed by a Chairman who directly reports to the Railway Minister. The board has five other members. The General Managers of the zonal railways and the production units report to the Board. Zonal management The current 18 zones of the Indian Railways are Divisional organisation The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) heads the organisation at the division level. There are currently 71 divisions on the system nationwide. The divisions are primarily involved with train running but may also have locomotive sheds (repair shops for locomotives), coaching depots (repair home bases for passenger trains), and wagon depots (repair and maintenance points for freight stock). Each division has all the functional organisations (both line and staff). The heads of these functional groups report to the DRM for administrative purposes but rely on the railway board and the zonal headquarters for policy guidelines. Cadres The various Group A cadres are as below: Central Civil Services recruitment through Civil Services Examination (CSE) conducted by UPSC: IRTS - Indian Railway Traffic Service IRPS - Indian Railway Personnel Service IRAS - Indian Railway Accounts Service IRPFS - Indian Railway Protection Force Service Central Engineering Services recruitment through Engineering Services Examination (ESE) conducted by UPSC: IRSE - Indian Railway Service (Civil) Engineers IRSEE - Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers IRSME - Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers IRSSE - Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers IRSS - Indian Railway Stores Service Central Health Science Services recruitment through Combined Medical Services Examination (CMSE) conducted by UPSC: IRMS - Indian Railway Medical Service See also Zones and divisions of Indian Railways Centralised Training Institutes of the Indian Railways References External links Official websites Central Railway Eastern Railway East Central Railway East Coast Railway Northern Railway North Central Railway North Western Railway North Eastern Railway Northeast Frontier Railway Southern Railway South Central Railway South Eastern Railway South