New Delhi: About 73.8 per cent aspirants appeared for an Indian Railways mega recruitment examination on Thursday, a record, officials said.

"Attendance in the very first shift is highly impressive, setting a record for all Railway Recruitment Board exams so far -- both for offline-based exams as well as pan-India computer-based tests -- since 2015," a Railway Ministry official said.

According to the official, of the total 161,332 candidates scheduled in the first shift at 416 centres in 160 cities across the country, about 119,110 candidates took the exams.

The exams, starting from Thursday, will be conducted in a phased manner till August 31.

The Ministry has announced 26,502 vacancies for the posts of Assistant Loco Pilots and technicians, for which tests are being conducted.