List of Railway Ministers Of India (1946 to 2024)

Ashwini Vaishnaw is the current Railway Minister of India. He took the oath as 40th Rail Minister in July 2021. Railway is one of the most crucial departments in the Ministry of India. A Rail Minister took care of all the responsibilities and reformation of the Indian Railway Transport of the Indian Territory.

They are the cabinet head of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India. Check the Railway Ministers Of India list with the tenure and party name below.

List of Railway Minister of India

Indian Railways carries around 22.7 million passengers daily by operating around 14,300 trains with 7,349 stations and 18 zones. Currently, Indian Railway network has a length of 68,103 kilometers which makes it the fourth-largest national railway in the world.

Below is the list of Railway Ministers of India from 1946 to 2024.

S.No.	Name	Tenure	Party Name	Prime Minister
1	Ashraf Ali	Sep 2, 1946 – Aug 14, 1947	Congress	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
2	John Mathai	15 August 1947- 22 September 1948	Congress	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
3	N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar	22 September 1948 – 13 May 1952	Congress	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
4	Lal Bahadur Shastri	13 May 1952 – 7 December 1956	Congress	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
5	Jagjivan Ram	7 December 1956 – 10 April 1962	Congress	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
6	Swaran Singh	10 April 1962 – 21 September 1963	Congress	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
7	H. C. Dasappa	21 September 1963 – 8 June 1964	Congress	Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
8	S. K. Patil	9 June 1964- 12 March 1967	Congress	Lal Bahadur Shastri & Indira Gandhi
9	C. M. Poonacha	13 March 1967 – 14 February 1969	Congress	Indira Gandhi
10	Ram Subhag Singh	14 February 1969 – 4 November 1969	Congress	Indira Gandhi
11	Panampilli Govinda Menon	4 November 1969 – 18 February 1970	Congress	Indira Gandhi
12	Gulzarilal Nanda	18 February 1970 – 17 March 1971	Congress	Indira Gandhi
13	K. Hanumanthaiya	18 March 1971 – 22 July 1972	Congress	Indira Gandhi
14	Lalit Narayan Mishra	5 February 1973 – 2 January 1975	Congress	Indira Gandhi
15	Kamalapati Tripathi	11 February 1975 – 23 March 1977	Congress	Indira Gandhi
16	Madhu Dandavate	26 March 1977 – 28 July 1979	Janata Party	Morarji Desai
17	T. A. Pai	30 July 1979 – 13 January 1980 & 23 July 1972 – 4 February 1973	Janta Party (Secular) & Congress	Ch. Charan Singh & Indira Gandhi
18	Kamalapati Tripathi	14 January 1980 – 12 November 1980	Congress	Indira Gandhi
19	Kedar Pandey	12 November 1980 – 14 January 1982	Congress	Indira Gandhi
20	Prakash Chandra Sethi	15 January 1982 – 2 September 1982	Congress	Indira Gandhi
21	A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury	2 September 1982 – 31 December 1984	Congress	Indira Gandhi & Rajeev Gandhi
22	Bansi Lal	31 December 1984 – 4 June 1986	Congress	Rajeev Gandhi
23	Mohsina Kidwai	24 June 1986 – 21 October 1986	Congress	Rajeev Gandhi
24	Madhavrao Scindia	22 October 1986 – 1 December 1989	Congress	Rajeev Gandhi
25	George Fernandez	5 December 1989 – 10 November 1990	Janata Dal	V. P. Singh
26	Janeshwar Mishra	21 November 1990 – 21 June 1991	Samajwadi Janta Party	Chandra Shekhar
27	CK Jaffer Sharief	21 June 1991 – 16 October 1995	Congress	PV Narsimha Rao
28	Ram Vilas Paswan	1 June 1996 – 19 March 1998	Janata Dal	HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral
29	Nitish Kumar	19 March 1998 – 5 August 1999	BJP	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
30	Lalu Prasad Yadav	23 May 2004 – 25 May 2009	BJP	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
31	Mamata Banerjee	13 October 1999 – 15 March 2001 and 26 May 2009 – 19 May 2011	Congress and National Democratic Alliance	Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr. Manmohan Singh
32	Dinesh Trivedi	12 July 2011 – 14 March 2012	Congress	Dr. Manmohan Singh
33	Mukul Roy	20 March 2012 to 21 September 2012	Congress	Dr. Manmohan Singh
34	Pawan Kumar Bansal	28 October 2012 – 10 May 2013	Congress	Dr. Manmohan Singh
35	CP Joshi	22 September 2012 – 28 October 2012 and 11 May 2013 – 16 June 2013	Congress	Dr. Manmohan Singh
36	Suresh Prabhu	10 November 2014 (Incumbent)	BJP	Narendra Modi
37	D.V. Sadananda Gowda	26 May 2014 to 9 November 2014	BJP	Narendra Modi
38	Suresh Prabhu	10 November 2014 (Incumbent)	BJP	Narendra Modi
39	Piyush Goyal	4 September 2017 – 7 July 2021	BJP	Narendra Modi
40	Ashwini Vaishnaw	July 2021 to present	BJP	Narendra Modi

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Railway Ministers in India

Railway Ministers in India is one of the crucial ministry in Cabinet minister of India. They are responsible for regulating the functions of Indian Railways. The Indian Railways is the fourth largest railway network in the world. Cabinet and Minister of State of Railways manage the policies, operations, and development of the railway infrastructure. They are the key figures in shaping the country’s transportation landscape.

In past, There was a separate budget specially announced for Indian Railway. It plays an important role in country’s development and GDP.

Current Railway Minister Of India – Ashwini Vaishnaw

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw is the present railway minister of India. He is serving as the 40th Union Minister of Railways of India. He took oath as the Union Minister of Railways of India on July 7, 2021.

He is a former IAS officer and had served as the Communications Minister and Electronics & Information Technology Minister in the Government of India. He is also a member of the Rajya Sabha who represents the Odisha state.

Below is the contact details of current Railway Minister of India.

Current Minister Of Railways – Ashwini Vaishnaw
Full Name	Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw
Date of Birth	18th July, 1970
Age	54
Place of Birth	Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Political Party	Bharatiya Janata Party (since 2019)
Education	B.E, M.Tech., MBA
Education	University of Pennsylvania, IIT Kanpur, M.B.M. Engineering College, Jai Narain Vyas University
Email Id	officeofmr@gov.in,
Phone No	011-23386645, 23381213
Social Handles	@AshwiniVaishnaw
Address	C/601, Swarna Jayanti Sadan, Bishambhar Das Marg, New Delhi110001 Tel. – 23351250
Previous Positions	Deputy Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office(2003-2004) Managing Director – GE Transportation, Vice President – Siemens
Assets	Rs 17,18,20,153 ~ 17 Crore

Current Minister Of States Of Railways

Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve and Smt. Darshana Jardosh is jointly serving as the Minister of State for Railways. They both took oath on July 7th, 2021. A Minister of State is a junior designation in the Council of Ministers in the Union Government.

They assist a cabinet minister or can act independently of a particular ministry.

First Railway Minister Of India

Dr. John Mathai was the first Railways Minister Of India. He served as first rail minister of India from 15 August 1947 to 22 September 1948. He was an economist and politician. He representrd the Indian National Congress party. John Mathai also received the Padma Vibhushan award for his research on Persian and Arabian languages.

Here are some details about him as mentioned below.

First Railway Minister Of India
Name	Dr. John Mathai
Position	Union Minister for Railways
In Office	15 August 1947 – 22 September 1948
Born	10th January 1886
Birthplace	Calicut, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	February, 1959 (aged 73)
Nationality	British Indian (1886-1947) Indian (1947-59)
Political Party	Indian National Congress
Education	Madras Christian College, Madras Law College

First Female Railway Minister Of India – Smt. Mamata Banerjee

Smt. Mamata Banerjee was the first female railway minister of India. She is the present Chief Minister of West Bengal. She was the first lady to present the Railways Budget in 2002 in the Parliament. Till date, Smt. Banerjee has served twice as The Railway Minister of India.

• First Woman President of India
• First Female Pilot Of India
• First Woman PM of India

Roles And Responsibilities of Railway Minister Of India

Here are the major roles and responsibilities of the Railway Ministers of India as mentioned below.

• The Railway Ministers are responsible for developing and implementing plans related to the railway sector.

• Railway Ministers share the railway budget in Parliament yearly and explain the financial allocations with improvement plans.

• They study the planning and execution of railway infrastructure projects. building new lines and stations are some of them.

• They ensure the passengers’ safety and protect the railway assets.

• The Railway Ministers work to include modern technologies to improve the operational efficiency of the railways.

• They work to improve the station facilities to ensure the overall satisfaction of railway passengers.

• He/She also addresses the concerns of the railway employees to enhance the overall welfare.

• The Railway Ministers handle funds, manage costs, and ensure the financial sustainability of the Indian Railways sector.

List of Railway Ministers Of India – FAQs

Who is the current railway minister of India?

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw is currently serving as the 39th railway minister of India. He took oath as the Union Minister of Railways of India on July 7, 2021.

Who is the first woman Railway Minister in India?

Smt. Mamata Banerjee was the first lady railway minister of India. She is the present Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Who is first Railway Minister?

John Mathai became the first Railway Minister of the country after Independence.

Who is the best railway minister of India?

Lal Bahadur Shastri is considered as the best railway minister of India.

Who is the CEO of Indian Railway?

Jaya Varma Sinha as Chairperson & CEO of Railway Board. She is the first woman to be appointed to this post of Indian Railways.

Who is known as father of Indian Railways?

Lord Dalhousie is known as father of Indian Railways. Lord Dalhousie served as the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856.

Who is called train Man of India?

Dr. Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, popularly known as the Railway Man of India.