Thirty-six years at the controls: Surekha Yadav

Journeys for two are often journeys by train, and behind every train is a driver. One of India's best-known loco pilots was Surekha Yadav of Maharashtra, reported in Indian media as the first woman train driver in Asia. According to reports in the Free Press Journal and elsewhere, she came from Satara, trained as an electrical engineer and joined the Central Railway in the late 1980s; sources give 1988 or 1989 for the start of her career.

Her career had a series of firsts. She was reported as the first woman to drive a suburban ladies' special on Central Railway in 2000, and the first woman to take the Deccan Queen through the Western Ghats between Mumbai and Pune. In March 2023, news outlets including Deccan Herald reported that she drove the Vande Bharat Express between Solapur and Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the first woman to do so, and the Railway Minister publicly congratulated her.

She retired on 30 September 2025 after 36 years of service, according to The Hitavada's report dated 1 October 2025, which called it the end of a trailblazing journey.

Railways are a large employer, and their staff are often invisible to passengers. The next time you are on a long journey, a short thank-you to the crew and station staff is a small and genuine courtesy. If you ride heritage lines such as the ones in our cover story, remember that the people who run them are doing a skilled and demanding job.