List of Railway Ministers of India

The Indian Railways (IR) was established on 6th May 1836. In India, the Indian Railways is a government-owned railway system that is under the authority of the Ministry of Railways and is responsible for the operation of the country's rail network. The Minister of Railways is the Indian government's chief executive officer in charge of India's Ministry of Railways. The Indian Railways are under the supervision of the railway minister, who is normally given cabinet-level status. Indian Railways, which employs more than a million people, is one of the largest employers in the world.

In the Central Government, the Railway Minister holds the Cabinet-level position of Minister of Railways. Asaf Ali served as the country's first Minister of Railways. He served in the position from September 2, 1946, until August 14, 1947. Although the job of Railway Minister was not explicitly defined at the time of British rule, the post was established in 1902.

Specifically, the Indian Railway Minister is in charge of all elements of rail transportation in the country, including planning, development, and operation. He reports to the Prime Minister and is responsible for the whole Ministry of Railways of the Indian Government. The Ministry of Railways is in charge of the state-owned Indian Railways, which is supervised by the Chairman of the Railway Board of Directors. The Ministry of Railways is also in charge of the Indian Railways.

The most important function of the Railway Minister is to compile and submit the railway budget to the Indian Parliament on an annual basis, which is a statutory requirement. The Indian Railways' annual financial statement is known as the railway budget. Following each election, a new group of Ministers is appointed to various posts within the government.

Some Facts of the Indian Railway

• A train called the Red Hill Railway (constructed by Arthur Cotton to carry granite for road construction) travelled from Red Hills to the Chintadripet bridge in Madras in 1837, marking the beginning of the country's railway history.
• Arthur Cotton constructed the Godavari Dam Building Railway at Dowleswaram in Rajahmundry in 1845 to provide stone for the construction of a dam across the Godavari River. The dam was completed in 1847.
• On April 16, 1853, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway's first passenger train, driven by three steam engines (Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan), travelled 34 kilometres (21 miles) on 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 inches) broad gauge track from Bori Bunder (Mumbai) to Thane.
• Indian Railways carried 6 crores (8.086 billion) passengers and moved 121.23 crores (1.2123 billion) tonnes of freight in the fiscal year ended March 2020, according to official figures. It operates 1 lakh (100,000) passenger trains every day, on both long-distance and suburban lines, and serves 7,325 stations across the country.
• There are 4 types of gauges used by the Indian railway.
  • Broad gauge - 1,676 mm
  • Standard gauge - 1,435 mm
  • Meter gauge - 1,000 mm
  • Narrow gauge - 762 mm
• Mail or express trains, which are the most prevalent trains, travel at an average speed of 6 kilometres per hour. Suburban EMUs travel at an average speed of 37.5 kilometres per hour. Ordinary passenger trains travel at an average speed of 33.5 kilometres per hour. It varies according to the railway; the Gatimaan Express has a maximum speed of 160 Kmph.
• If the position of Minister of Railways is empty for an extended period of time, the office automatically becomes the responsibility of the Prime Minister.
• The Indian Railways announced a national suspension of passenger train service on March 22, 2020, in order to battle the COVID-19 epidemic across the country.
• Indian Railways has a significant amount of equity in 16 public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other companies that are involved in rail transportation in the country.

List of Railway Ministers from (1945 - 2022)

Conclusion

The Indian Ministry of Railways is responsible for the country's rail transportation system. The Ministry of Railways is in charge of the state-owned Indian Railways, which is overseen by the Chairman of the Railway Board, which reports to the Prime Minister. In every year's session of Parliament, the railway minister develops and delivers the Rail Budget. Ashwini Vaishnaw has been appointed as the country's new Railways Minister, replacing Arun Jaitley. Prior to Ashwini Vaishnaw taking over as Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal of the BJP was in charge of the ministry after the reshuffle of the cabinet.