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 19 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.
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]
The organization is divided into separate functional groups of traction, engineering, traffic, rolling stock, signalling, materials, personnel, RPF, finance, health and safety.[11]
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.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.[14]
In every zone, the functional verticals are represented by head of departments (HODs) responsible for the respective functions in the zone.[36] 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.[37]
| 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 |
See also: Indian Railways Management Service and Railway Recruitment Control Board.
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%.[15] 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]
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.[15]