Central Railway Salutes 8,000+ Women Employees Driving Operations Across the Network on International Women’s Day

Mumbai 07th March 2026: On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2026, Central Railway highlighted the contributions of its women employees working across operational, technical and frontline roles, noting that 8,197 women are currently part of its workforce.

According to the railway administration, women employees are serving in a wide range of responsibilities including loco pilots, station managers, train managers, signal technicians, welders, travelling ticket examiners, Railway Protection Force personnel, pointsmen and ticket checking staff across the network.

Among the operational staff, Mamta Kulkarni, station manager at Mulund, is recognised as the first woman station manager on the Mumbai Division of Central Railway. Sarika Sawant, station manager at Matunga, is posted at a station known for being the first suburban railway station in India to be managed entirely by an all-women crew, a record noted in the Limca Book of Records.

Women have also taken up roles in train operations. Anupama Patil, a goods train loco pilot based in Kalyan, is among the women operating freight services on the division. In train management, Priyanka Mudaliar, a goods train manager at Panvel, represents women serving in operational control roles on freight trains.

On passenger services, Sarika Ojha, Varsha Tayde and Manisha Rahulram are working as travelling ticket inspectors on the Vande Bharat Express. Ticket inspectors Sujata Kalgaonkar and Lata Bhagat, who are also sportspersons representing Central Railway, are part of the ticket checking staff.

In technical departments, women employees are working in workshop and signalling roles. At the Matunga Workshop, Pooja Singh, Swapnali Thorat, Rajubai Talekat, Ranjana Vayle and Meenakshi Sarkaniya are among the welders involved in maintenance work. In signalling and telecommunications, Sarika Shende, a technician at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, and Kavita Mayekar, signal assistant at Dombivli, are engaged in technical railway operations.

Women are also working in field-level operational roles such as pointsmen responsible for track and signal coordination. Geeta Nagvekar, posted at Dadar, and Rupali Khare at Matunga are among the staff performing these duties.

Passenger information services include announcers such as Sushma Hondevkar, who provides train and safety announcements for passengers across Central Railway stations.

In railway security, women personnel of the Railway Protection Force are deployed across stations and trains. Among them are constables Sonam Vishwakarma, posted at Thane, and Nazneen Qureshi, who are part of passenger security initiatives including the Meri Saheli programme aimed at assisting women passengers during travel.

Railway officials said women employees are currently deployed across departments of Central Railway and continue to perform operational, technical and passenger service roles within the network.