The Indian Railways Service of Engineers (IRSE) is one of the oldest group 'A' central engineering services recruited through the engineering services examination of the Union Public Service Commission. The officers of this service are responsible for administering the Civil Engineering organisation of the Indian Railways Recruitment The recruitment to the IRSE is done through the Engineering Services Examination exam. The selected candidates of civil engineering join IRSE and are finally inducted into the railways after one and a half years of training to manage the fixed infrastructure assets of Indian Railways. The selection exam is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) of India. The UPSC is responsible for recruiting middle and top-level bureaucrats for the Government of India. Role and function The Civil engineering department of Indian Railways is managed by IRSE cadre which is one of the oldest services of India. These officers are responsible for the maintenance of all fixed assets of Indian railways, i.e. Track, Bridges, Buildings, Roads, Water supply, land etc. Those fixed assets are 45% of the total assets of Indian Railways. In addition to maintenance of existing assets, IRSE officers are responsible for the construction of new assets such as new lines, gauge conversion, doubling and other expansion and developmental works in Railways. They are also responsible for the safety and punctuality of Indian Railways. Recruitment to service is done on the basis of "Engineering Services" examination conducted by UPSC every year in January. The number of new recruits varies each year. Presently, intake is about 45 probationers per year. An aspirant is not necessarily a Civil Engineering graduate. Indeed he needs to appear for the Civil Engineering stream in Engineering services exam and become qualified. After Recruitment, the probationer is given 18 months' intensive training in various Railways establishments under the guidance of Indian Railway Institute of Civil Engineering (IRICEN), Pune. A young probationer, after 18 months of rigorous and multi-dimensional training, is posted as Assistant Divisional Engineer (ADEN) which has historically been called AEN (Assistant Engineer) and can rise up to Chairman Railway Board, ex officio Principal Secretary to Govt of India. Normally, all the IRSE officers rise up to a minimum level of Additional General Manager or Principal Chief Engineer or Chief Administrative Officer (Construction) rank in railways which is equivalent to Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India. The civil engineering department, at the railway board level,