Indian Railways organisational structure
Indian Railways is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It is headed by a Railway Board whose chairman reports to the Ministry of Railways. It is organized into separate functional groups or verticals while divided into 17 operational zones geographically. Each zone, headed by a General Manager, is semi-autonomous thus creating a matrix organization where the functional branches are under dual control.
Railway Board
In March 1905, the railway branch of the Public Works Department was transferred to the newly established railway board under the department of commerce and industry by the Indian Railway Board Act.[1] In 1908, the set up was re-organized on the recommendations of the Railway Finance Committee (1908) by constituting the Railway Board headed by a president as a separate department.[2] Pursuant to the Acworth committee's recommendations in 1921, the railway board was expanded to four members with the addition of a financial commissioner in 1924 apart from the chief commissioner, one commissioners responsible for ways and works, projects and stores and the other responsible for general administration, staff and traffic.[2] In 1929, an additional member was added to the board and was assigned the responsibility for staff, so that the member in charge of traffic could focus solely on transport and commercial matters.[3] In 1950,the railway board was re-constituted to four members with the senior-most functional member appointed the chairman of the board with no absolute over riding power.[4][5] In October 1954, the chairman of the board was made responsible for decisions on technical and policy matters, with the status of a principal secretary to the Government of India with an additional member added.[5] The board was expanded with an additional member responsible for electrical engineering in 1972 and a further member responsible for health in 1976.[6] In 2004, the board is expanded by the introduction of two new members responsible for signalling & telecom and for stores respectively.[7] In December 2019, the Union Cabinet decided to reduce the size of the board from eight to five.[8] The chairman of the railway board reports to the Ministry of Railways and act on behalf of the ministry. The following report to the railway board:[9][10]
- General managers of various zones
- Heads of functional divisions
- Heads/Managers of production units
- Heads of Public Sector Undertakings
- Heads of railway institutes
- Heads of special divisions
Functional division
The organization is divided into separate functional groups of traction, engineering, traffic, rolling stock, signalling, materials, personnel, RPF, finance, health and safety.[11]
Zonal management
In 1944, all the railway companies in existence at the time were taken over by the Government.[12] In December 1950, the Central Advisory Committee for Railways approved the plan for re-organizing Indian Railways into six regional zones which were divided subsequently to create newer zones. As of 2024, there are 17 operational zones of Indian Railways.[13] The zones are headed by a General manager and are further sub-divided into divisions. Each division is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), who are responsible for the operation and maintenance in the respective divisions.[14] The 17 operational zones and their divisions are listed below. South Coast Railway zone is proposed to be created as the eighteenth zone, but is not yet operational as of 2023.[15]
- ^ as of March 2023
Structure
In every zone, the functional verticals are represented by head of departments (HODs) responsible for the respective functions in the zone.[37] Each division has functional staff who report to the geographical divisional managers and functional HODs in a matrix organization and are tasked with the operation and maintenance of assets.[14]
Department | HOD | Divisional manager | Function |
---|---|---|---|
Stores | Principal Chief Materials Manager (PCMM) | Sr. Divisional Material Manager | Material stores for maintenance of infrastructure |
Mechanical | Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer (PCME) | Sr. Divisional Mechanical Engineer (Diesel) | Maintenance of diesel locomotives |
Sr. Divisional Mechanical Engineer (Carriage & Wagon) | Maintenance of rolling stock | ||
Electrical | Principal Chief Electrical Engineer (PCEE) | Sr. Divisional Electrical Engineer (General) | Maintenance of station lighting and power supply |
Sr. Divisional Electrical Engineer (Traction distribution) | Maintenance of overhead equipment | ||
Sr. Divisional Electrical Engineer (Traction rolling stock) | Maintenance of electric locomotives and Multiple units | ||
Signal & Telecommunication | Principal Chief Signal & Telecom Engineer (PCSTE) | Sr. Divisional Signal & Telecommunication Engineer (DSTE) | Management of the signalling and telecommunication infrastructure |
Engineering | Principal Chief Engineer (PCE) | Sr. Divisional Engineer | Maintenance of fixed assets |
Sectional Sr. Divisional Engineer | |||
Operations | Principal Chief Operations Manager (PCOM) | Sr. Divisional Operations Manager | Train operations |
Accounts | Principal Financial Advisor (PFA) | Sr. Divisional Finance Manager | Accounting and financials |
Commercial | Principal Chief Commercial Manager (PCCM) | Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager | Passenger ticketing, checking, freight booking and fare collection |
Medical | Principal Chief Medical Director (PCMD) | Chief Medical Superintendent | Providing medical facilities |
Safety | Principal Chief Safety Officer (PCSO) | Sr. Divisional Safety Officer | Safety of train operations |
Personnel | Principal Chief Personnel Officer (PCPO) | Sr. Divisional Personnel Officer | Human resources |
Security | Principal Chief Security Commissioner (PCSC) | Sr. Divisional Security Commissioner | Security of railway material, passenger and belongings |
Management | Additional General Manager (AGM) | Divisional Railway Manager | Management of all departments |
Human Resources
Staff are classified into gazetted (Groups A and B) and non-gazetted (Groups C and D) employees with gazetted employees carrying out executive/managerial level tasks.[38] As of March 2022, Groups A & B constitute 1.5% of the total workforce, while Group C & D account for 98.5%.[16] 80% of Group-A employees are recruited through Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS) with remaining through promotions.[39] The various Group A cadres are as below include:[40]
- Central Civil Services recruitment through Civil Services Examination (CSE)
- Central Engineering Services recruitment through Engineering Services Examination (ESE)
- Central Health Science Services recruitment through Combined Medical Services Examination (CMSE)
Group B employees are recruited by departmental promotional exams of Group C employees. Recruitment of Group C employees are through exams conducted by the Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB) and Group D staffs are recruited by zonal Railway Recruitment Cells (RRC).[41] Indian Railways operates seven centralized training institutes and 295 training centers.[16]
See also
- v
- t
- e
- Ministry of Railways
- Rail Bhavan
- Railway Board
organisations
- Central Organisation for Modernisation of Workshops (COFMOW)
- Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE)
- Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)
- Commission of Railway Safety (CRS)
- Container Corporation of India (CCI)
- Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL)
- High Speed Rail Corporation of India Limited (HSRI)
- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
- Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC)
- Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC)
- Ircon International (IRCON)
- Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC)
- Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC)
- National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL)
- Passenger Amenities Committee (PAC)
- Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES)
- Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA)
- Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL)
- RailTel
- Railway Protection Force (RPF)
- Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB)
- Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB)
- Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO)
- Coaching Stock
- Wagon Numbering
- Locomotives
- Multiple units
- ICF coach
- LHB coach
- Tejas coach
- Vande Bharat
- Amrit Bharat
- Bullet train (Future)
units
- BEML Limited
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
- Bharat Wagon and Engineering
- Braithwaite & Co.
- Burn Standard Company
- Banaras Locomotive Works
- Chittaranjan Locomotive Works
- Diesel Locomotive Factory
- Patiala Locomotive Works
- Electric Locomotive Factory
- Integral Coach Factory
- Marathwada Rail Coach Factory
- Modern Coach Factory
- Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala)
- Rail Coach Factory (Sonipat)
- Rail Wheel Factory
- Rail Wheel Plant
- Titagarh Wagons
depots
Diesel Loco |
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Electric Loco |
| ||||||||
Steam Loco | |||||||||
Multiple Unit |
|
Main | |
---|---|
Suburban | |
Mountain |
trains
High-Speed |
|
---|---|
Semi-High speed | |
Premium |
|
Express | |
Luxury | |
Special | |
Others |
Major |
| ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Others |
|
institutes
- Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering (IRICEN)
- Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering (IRICEE)
- Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE)
- Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET)
- Indian Railways Track Machine Training Centre (IRTMTC)
- National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR)
- National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI)
- Jagjivan Ram Railway Protection Force Academy (JRRPFA)
- Accidents
- Anti-collision device
- Kavach
- Future
- Last vehicle board
- Railway budget
- Railway schools
- Train Warning System
- Urban Rail Transit
- Category
References
- ^ The Indian Railway Board Act, 1905 (PDF). Parliament of India. 1905.
- ^ a b IRFC (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "History of Indian Railways". IRFCA. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Overview of Indian Railways (PDF) (Report). National Academy of Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ a b "History of Indian Railways". IRFCA. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "History of Indian Railways". IRFCA. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "History of Indian Railways". IRFCA. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Cabinet approves restructuring of Railway Board". Livemint. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways. New Delhi: National Book Trust. p. 49-54. ISBN 978-8-1237-2589-5.
- ^ Organization chart (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Organization Chart (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Evolution of Indian Railways-Historical Background (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ List of zones and divsions (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ a b India's railway history : a research handbook. Brill. 3 August 2012. p. 270. ISBN 978-9-0042-3003-3. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Cabinet approves South Coast Railway zone" (Press release). Government of India. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- ^ a b c Year book 2021-22 (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Indian railway zones (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Route map, 2023 (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ List of zones and divsions (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ List of stations, SR (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Divisions of CR (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "System map, WR" (PDF). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Category wise stations, ER (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ System map, NR (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "System map, NER" (PDF). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Category of stations, SER". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Station classification, NFR (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Category wise stations, SCR". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Kolkata metro map". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ UTS locations, ECR (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "System map, SECR" (PDF). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "About us, NWR". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Classification of stations, ECoR (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ System map, NCR (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Category wise stations, SWR". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Category wise list of stations, WCR". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ a b Organization chart, Zonal railway (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Railway Board Directorates". Indian Railways. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012.
- ^ "Recruitment to Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) to be done through a specially designed examination (IRMS Examination)" (Press release). Government of India. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Railway board". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ Indian Railways Establishment Manual (Report). RRCB. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2023.