Asia's 1st Woman Railway Loco Pilot Surekha Yadav Creates History, Operates Vande Bharat Express

MAHARASHTRA: Asia's first woman loco pilot Surekha Yadav has created history once again. She operated the Vande Bharat Express from Solapur to CSMT on Monday (March 13). With this, she has become the first woman loco pilot to drive the Vande Bharat Express train.

Reacting to this, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared pictures on Twitter and wrote, "Vande Bharat - powered by Nari Shakti. Mrs. Surekha Yadav, the first woman loco pilot of Vande Bharat Express."

Notably, Central Railway has started two Vande Bharat Express trains on CSMT-Solapur and CSMT-Sainagar Shirdi routes, which were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 10, 2023.

Surekha Yadav was felicitated at platform number 8 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. Surekha Yadav from Satara, Maharashtra became the first woman train driver not only in India but also in Asia in the year 1988. She has won many awards at state and national level for his achievements so far.

Currently, 10 Vande Bharat Express trains are running in India. These trains have become popular in a very short time due to their excellent facilities and high speed. It is worth mentioning here that the country's first Vande Bharat train flagged off on the New Delhi Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route in February 2019. The train has many facilities like automatic gates, AC coaches, onboard Wi-Fi and many more. The Express can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph and has travel classes like Shatabdi Train but with better facilities. It aims to provide a totally new travel experience to passengers. Speed, Safety, and Service are the key specifications of this train.