What has happened
RRB released the detailed CEN 02/2026 for Technician Grade I Signal and Grade III on 29 June 2026 (RRB Bhubaneswar’s own listing shows 30 June, so treat this one date as unconfirmed until you check your regional RRB site). Applications ran 30 June to 29 July 2026, fee payment closed 31 July, and the one-time correction window closed 10 August. Roughly 8.4 lakh applications are being reported for this cycle by aggregator sites, but RRB has not issued its own application-count notice yet, so hold that figure loosely.
What changed this year
Vacancies rose from 6,238 under CEN 02/2025 to 6,557, an increase of 319 posts (Grade I Signal +140, Grade III +179). The official category-wise split is UR 2,728, SC 1,009, ST 597, OBC-NCL 1,565, EWS 658, confirmed from Annexure B of the CEN. Some notification summaries circulating online show a different split totalling 6,565, not 6,557; that version does not match the official document and should not be used.
The bigger operational change: this CEN drops the photo upload step entirely. Where earlier Technician cycles asked for a pre-existing passport photo, CEN 02/2026 captures your photo live through the browser or app during the application.
How to apply
- One application per Pay Level, one RRB choice per Pay Level, and that choice is final.
- “Create an Account” first; mobile number and email entered here can never be changed for this CEN.
- Selection runs CBT (90 minutes, 100 questions, 1/3 negative marking) → Document Verification → Medical Examination, with DV shortlisting done RRB-wise at 1:1 of vacancies.
Photo and signature
There is nothing to upload for the photo: it’s captured live, so dress in non-white clothing and skip the cap, mask or glasses. The signature is the only image you scan and upload, and RRB is strict about it:
- JPG/JPEG only, 30 to 49 KB, minimum 140 x 60 pixels, scanned at 100 DPI or higher
- Black ink on white paper, running (cursive) handwriting, sized to sit inside a 35 mm x 20 mm box on the form
Full specs and history for this exam are on the RRB Technician 2026 exam page. If your scan is over or under the size limit, resize it free with the signature resizer.
Before you upload
- Confirm your signature file is between 30 and 49 KB, not just “close enough”
- Use black ink on plain white paper, no lines, no logos
- Write in cursive, not block or capital letters, RRB rejects both
- Do not attempt to photograph a printed signature; it will be flagged and rejected
- Keep a second, correctly-toned scan ready in case the first upload is refused
Facts to confirm before publishing:
- Whether the detailed CEN was released 29 or 30 June 2026 (RRB Secunderabad and RRB Bhubaneswar disagree).
- The exact application count for CEN 02/2026, official RRB figure not yet published (secondary sources cite ~8,41,542, unverified, and this is suspiciously close to a separately reported CEN 02/2025 figure of 8,41,524, so check both are not the same number mislabelled).
- CBT/exam date, not announced as of 23 August 2026; some blogs speculate November 2026 with no official basis.
- A stable, direct official notification PDF link per RRB zone (link used here is the centralised portal; confirm against your chosen RRB’s own site).
- CEN 02/2025 and CEN 02/2024 applicant/vacancy figures if you plan to publish a multi-year vacancy trend chart beyond the numbers already confirmed here.