Women loco pilots increase fivefold on Indian Railways in 10 years

The number of women loco pilots driving trains on Indian Railways has grown fivefold over the past ten years, government officials said.

 

As of 2024, 1,828 women loco pilots work with the national transporter, up from 371 a decade ago. Most women loco pilots are from Uttar Pradesh (increasing from 36 to 222), followed by Telangana (from 13 to 196) and Tamil Nadu (from 39 to 180).

 

“Women have entered domains such as loco pilots, station masters, trackmen, signal maintenance, guards, gangmen, etc. This is evident from the fact that, out of the present strength of women employees in Railways, women are over 1 lakh, which is about 8.2 per cent of the total strength of Railways,” said an official.

 

Indian Railways has traditionally been a male-dominated sector, with long working hours, challenging terrain, solitary work, and extended duty periods—sometimes stretching 40 to 60 hours.

 

Similarly, the number of women station masters has also grown fivefold over the past ten years, reaching 1,828.