Surekha Yadav, a trailblazer since 1988, became Asia’s first female train driver, inspiring millions.
From Deccan Queen to Vande Bharat, her journey breaks barriers.
Born on September 2, 1965, in Satara, Maharashtra, Surekha Yadav became Asia’s first female loco pilot in 1988, joining Indian Railways as a trainee assistant driver after earning an electrical engineering diploma. With no prior experience driving even a two-wheeler, she trained at Kalyan Training School, overcoming skepticism in a male-dominated field. By 1989, she was piloting goods trains, and in 1998, she became a full-fledged loco pilot, navigating challenging Western Ghat routes by 2010.
In 2000, Surekha drove India’s first Ladies Special train in Mumbai, introduced by then-Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. On March 8, 2011, she made history piloting the Deccan Queen from Pune to Mumbai on International Women’s Day, a feat repeated in 2021 with an all-women crew. In 2023, she became the first woman to operate the Vande Bharat Express, covering Solapur to Mumbai’s CSMT in under 450 km, arriving five minutes early. X posts, like @Central_Railway’s with 1,000 views, hailed her as a “symbol of Nari Shakti.”
Surekha faced challenges like long hours and mechanical risks but credits family support—her husband, a police inspector, and two sons—for her success. With 50 women loco pilots in India by 2011, per railway data, her legacy inspires.
Honored with multiple state and national awards, including a 2013 RWCC Best Woman award, Surekha’s journey, celebrated by PM Modi in Mann ki Baat 2023, underscores resilience in transforming India’s railway landscape.
