Surekha Yadav becomes Asia’s First Female Loco Pilot of Indigenous Vande Bharat Train, Know about this Tech Train here

Surekha Yadav is the first woman from India to become a loco pilot i.e. train driver of the indigenously designed train “Vande Bharata Express”. This newly-launched train has high-tech features along with semi-high speed, as stated by the Central Railways. 

On March 13, 2023 (Monday), 57-year-old Surekha Yadav successfully achieved the mission as she piloted the avant-garde train between Solapur station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.

सशक्त महिला, सशक्त राष्ट्र!

श्रीमती सुरेखा यादव -
वंदे भारत एक्सप्रेस की पहली महिला लोको पायलट #NariShaktiForNewIndia @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/SPvrHtIzOa

— Raosaheb Patil Danve (@raosahebdanve) March 14, 2023

Five Things to know about Surekha Yadav

• Surekha Yadav is a female train driver of Indian railways. She acquired the position as the country’s first female train driver in 1988. She handled the first “Ladies Special” in April 2000. Coming from Satara in the western Maharashtra region, she has been honoured with several awards at the state and national levels so far.
• Expressing thanksgiving for the opportunity to operate the Vande Bharat Train, she asserted that this is a wonderful experience to explore the new age, state-of-the-art technology of Vande Bharat Train. The train departed Solapur at the stipulated time and reached CSMT 5 minutes prior to the completion time, told by Central Railways.
• The railways also added that on completing over 450 km long journey, Surekha Yadav rejoiced at platform number 8 at CSMT.
• The Central Railways executed the prestigious Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen Express and CSMT-Kalyan ladies' special local train on International Women’s Day on March 08, 2023. It accompanied all-women crews. On the occasion, Yadav drove the Deccan Queen along with Sayali Sawardekar as an assistant loco pilot.
• The Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav applauded Surekha Yadav on her big achievement and publicly wrote on March 13 that Vande Bharat is powered by Nari Shakti. Smt. Surekha Yadav makes India proud by becoming the first woman loco pilot of Vande Bharat Express.

Railway Minister promotes ‘Nari Shakti’

Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishanw extended his best wishes and commended Surekha Yadav further encouraging ‘Women’s Empowerment’. In a recent tweet, the Minister stated that Vande Bharat Train Mission is a part of the Nari Shakti initiative. 

Smt. Surekha Yadav has created history by being the first Indian woman as a loco pilot of Vande Bharat Express. Not only in India, but she is Asia’s first woman to be on board as a train driver. She has been operating the train since the year 1988. 

Surekha’s Career & Awards

In 1987, the Railway Recruitment Board interviewed Surekha Yadav and this was her first initial step towards the Railway Sector. It was her dream to drive one of the trains of the Central Railway and she accomplished it ultimately.

Talking about her educational background, she is a graduate of BSc and BEd. As she got a job opportunity in Indian Railways, she did not pursue further studies. She has no record of train accidents and till now she has driven various kinds of trains such as goods and mail express trains, ghat trains with twin engines as well as the local suburb trains. 

Very few know that she acted in one of the Television serials in 1991 namely “Hum Bhi Kisise Kam Nahi”. She has been admired by multiple organisations for her uniqueness as the rare female train driver. Some of the awards that she bagged include Women Achievers Award (2011) by Central Railways, Prerna Puraskar (2005), and Rashtriya Mahila Aayog (2001), among several others.

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