‘Machines Don’t See Gender’: India’s First Female Train Driver Retires After 36 Years

Surekha Yadav, India’s first female train driver, has retired after an inspiring 36-year career with Indian Railways — a journey that began when women in the profession were almost unheard of.

“Machines don’t see gender; they see your strength,” Yadav said as she reflected on her decades behind the controls of locomotives across India’s vast and challenging terrain. Born in Maharashtra in 1965 to a farming family, she studied electrical engineering before joining the railways in 1989, unaware that no woman had ever held the job before her.

From freight trains to express routes, Yadav navigated floods, mountains, and long nights — often without proper facilities for women — and even worked through her pregnancies. In 1996, she became a locomotive pilot, responsible for operating the “nerve centre” of the train.

Today, more than 2,000 women drive trains in India, but Yadav’s pioneering spirit paved the way. “I just did the job I was selected for,” she said. “If I hadn’t done it, someone else would have — so why not me?”