Study Material — 15 PYQs (2022–2022) · Concept Notes · Shortcuts
SBI Clerk Trains is a frequently tested subtopic — 15 previous year questions from 2022–2022 papers are included below with concept notes, key rules and shortcut tricks.
15 questions from actual SBI Clerk papers · all shown free · click option to reveal solution
Exam Q 12022Previous Year Pattern
A train travels 240 km in 4 hours at a constant speed. What is the speed of the train in km/h?
Exam Q 22022Previous Year Pattern
A train 150 m long passes a stationary pole in 10 seconds. What is the speed of the train in m/s?
Exam Q 32022Previous Year Pattern
A train 200 m long passes another train 300 m long, both moving in the same direction. The first train travels at 80 km/h and the second at 60 km/h. How long will it take for the first train to completely pass the second train?
Exam Q 42022Previous Year Pattern
Train A travels at 72 km/h. How long will it take to cover 360 km?
Exam Q 52022Previous Year Pattern
Two trains are moving towards each other. Train X travels at 60 km/h and Train Y travels at 40 km/h. If they are 200 km apart, in how many hours will they meet?
Exam Q 62022Previous Year Pattern
A train travels 120 km in 2 hours and then 180 km in 3 hours. What is the average speed of the train for the entire journey?
Exam Q 72022Previous Year Pattern
Train A of length 150 m crosses a stationary platform in 15 seconds. Train B of length 100 m travels at twice the speed of Train A. How long will Train B take to cross the same platform?
Exam Q 82022Previous Year Pattern
Two trains start simultaneously from stations X and Y, which are 360 km apart. Train P travels from X towards Y at 60 km/h, and Train Q travels from Y towards X at 90 km/h. After how many hours will they meet?
Exam Q 92022Previous Year Pattern
Train X travels at 72 km/h and Train Y travels at 54 km/h in the same direction on parallel tracks. Train X is 250 m behind Train Y. How long will it take Train X to completely overtake Train Y if both trains are 150 m long?
Exam Q 102022Previous Year Pattern
A train passes a stationary man in 8 seconds and a platform of length 180 m in 20 seconds. What is the length of the train?
Exam Q 112022Previous Year Pattern
A train 200 m long takes 20 seconds to pass a man standing on the platform. The same train takes 50 seconds to completely cross a bridge. What is the length of the bridge?
Exam Q 122022Previous Year Pattern
A train travels 360 km in 6 hours. Due to maintenance, its speed is reduced by 25% for the return journey. If the return journey is 10% longer in distance, how much time will the return journey take?
Exam Q 132022Previous Year Pattern
Train A and Train B are running on parallel tracks in opposite directions. Train A is 120 m long and travels at 80 km/h. Train B is 80 m long and travels at 100 km/h. How long will it take for the trains to completely pass each other?
Exam Q 142022Previous Year Pattern
Two trains start from the same station at the same time. Train X travels at 72 km/h, and train Y travels at 54 km/h in the same direction. After 4 hours, train X stops for 30 minutes for maintenance. How much time will it take for train Y to catch up with train X (from the moment train X stops)?
Exam Q 152022Previous Year Pattern
Two trains, A and B, start simultaneously from stations X and Y respectively, which are 480 km apart. Train A travels at 60 km/h towards Y, while train B travels at 40 km/h towards X. After how much time will they meet, and at what distance from station X?
Concept Notes
Trains— Rules & Concept
Core ConceptRead this first — the foundation of the topic
Core Concept
Train problems involve calculating time taken by trains to cross objects like poles, platforms, bridges, or other trains. The key is understanding that trains have length, unlike point objects
Key Rules
When a train crosses a stationary object like a pole, it travels a distance equal to its own length. When crossing a platform or bridge, it travels its own length plus the length of the platform/bridge. For two trains, use relative speed concept.
Formula BlockMemorise — at least one formula appears in every paper
Time = Distance/Speed
Speed = Distance/Time
Relative Speed (same direction) = |S1 - S2|
Relative Speed (opposite direction) = S1 + S2
Speed conversion: km/hr to m/s multiply by 5/18, m/s to km/hr multiply by 18/5
Exam PatternsWhat examiners ask — read before attempting PYQs
SSC CGL typically asks 1-2 train problems per paper. Common question types include trains crossing poles, platforms, bridges, and other trains. Questions often involve unit conversions and relative motion.
ShortcutsUse these to save 30–60 seconds per question
- The 5/18 Rule: To convert km/hr to m/s, multiply by 5/18. To convert m/s to km/hr, multiply by 18/5. Remember: 72 km/hr = 20 m/s (this conversion appears frequently).
Worked ExampleSolve this step-by-step before moving on
1
Step 1
Distance covered = Length of train = 120m
2
Step 2
Time taken = 8 seconds
3
Step 3
Speed = Distance/Time = 120/8 = 15 m/s
4
Step 4
Convert to km/hr = 15 × 18/5 = 54 km/hr
Answer: 54 km/hr
Worked Example 2: Two trains of lengths 100m and 150m are running in opposite directions at speeds 40 km/hr and 50 km/hr respectively. In how much time will they cross each other?
Relative speed = 100/9 + 125/9 = 225/9 = 25 m/s (opposite direction, so add)
3
Step 3
Total distance = 100 + 150 = 250m
4
Step 4
Time = Distance/Speed = 250/25 = 10 seconds
Answer: 10 seconds
Advanced Shortcut - Platform Formula: Time to cross platform = (Train length + Platform length)/Speed. This direct formula saves calculation steps in exams.
Most Common Trap: Students forget to add platform/bridge length when train crosses them. They only consider train length, leading to wrong answers. Always read whether the train crosses a pole (only train length) or platform/bridge (train length + platform/bridge length).
Another frequent mistake is wrong unit conversion. Practice the 5/18 conversion thoroughly. Many students confuse when to multiply or divide.
Speed-Distance-Time Shortcut: If train crosses pole in time T1 and platform in time T2, then platform length = speed × (T2 - T1). This eliminates the need to calculate train length first.