Smt. Surekha Shankar Yadav (née Bhosale) was born on 2 September 1965 in Satara, Maharashtra. She was the eldest of five in a farming household where grit came as naturally as ploughing the fields. India’s first woman train driver, she will step down from Indian Railways on 30 September 2025 after 36 years, leaving behind not just a career, but a track cleared for thousands of women who once couldn’t even dream of sitting in the driver’s cabin.
Surekha Yadav Retirement: Asia’s First Woman Train Driver
Smt. Surekha Yadav, Asia’s First Woman Train Driver, retires today after 36 glorious years of service.#MumbaiLocal #IndianRailways pic.twitter.com/Ywrw1rvKY2
— Mumbai Heritage (@mumbaiheritage) September 18, 2025
Surekha Yadav went from a convent schoolgirl at Saint Paul’s in Satara to an electrical engineering diploma holder at Government Polytechnic, Karad. And then came 1987, the year she cracked the Railway Recruitment Board exam.
In Kalyan, she began as a trainee assistant driver, and by 1989, she was no longer just “a woman in the railways.” She was Asia’s first woman assistant loco pilot of passenger trains.
What followed was less a smooth ride and more a climb. By 1996, she was entrusted with heavy goods trains. In 2000, she switched to suburban services as a motorwoman. And then, in 2010, she conquered the unforgiving slopes of the Western Ghats, steering the legendary Deccan Queen. Perhaps the most symbolic moment arrived on 8 March 2011, on International Women’s Day, when she drove that very train from Pune to Mumbai, greeted at CSMT by the city’s mayor. It was celebration, recognition, and history rolled into one.
From Deccan Queen To Rajdhani Express
But Surekha Yadav had a knack for rewriting firsts. In March 2023, she was at the helm of the Vande Bharat Express between Solapur and Mumbai’s CST, making her the first woman to drive India’s semi-high-speed marvel. The Prime Minister himself took note, mentioning her in his Mann Ki Baat broadcast on 26 March 2023.
As her career drew to a close, she took charge of Train No. 22222, the Rajdhani Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin to CSMT, one of her final official runs. The reception at Platform 18, CSMT was all about garlands, the beat of lavni dancers, colleagues cheering, and her family standing proud. Later, the heritage dining hall of the station hosted a farewell luncheon.
Surekha herself often admits she never set out to be a railway pioneer, it happened because she filled out an application form. What kept her steady was family backing and a system that, to its credit, let her prove herself. In a profession once considered out of reach for women, she thrived. And here’s the stark proof: in the late 1980s, women train drivers in India numbered exactly zero. Today, there are over 1,500. Every single one followed the tracks she laid.
She has no grand post-retirement blueprint yet. On 19 September 2025, she left Mumbai for a vacation, promising to return mid-week to finish her paperwork. Indian Railways officials describe her as a beacon of courage and determination. Perhaps the better way to put it is this: every time a young woman grips the controls of a train in India, a little bit of Surekha Yadav rides along.
Cover Image Courtesy: central_railway/X
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