Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

is a

statutory body A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

under the

ownership Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as '' title'', which may be separated and held by dif ...

of the

Ministry of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure ...

of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

that operates India's national railway system. It is headed by a

Railway Board The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the rail transport in India, country's rail transport. The Indian Railways is the rail network operated and administered by the Railway Board constituted by t ...

whose

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

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.

Railway Board

In March 1905, the railway branch of the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

was transferred to the newly established railway board under the

department of commerce and industry Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

by the Indian Railway Board Act. In 1908, the set up was re-organized on the recommendations of the Railway Finance Committee (1908) by constituting the

headed by a president as a separate department. 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. 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. 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. In October 1954, the

of the board was made responsible for decisions on technical and policy matters, with the status of a principal secretary to the

with an additional member added. The board was expanded with an additional member responsible for electrical engineering in 1972 and a further member responsible for health in 1976. In 2004, the board is expanded by the introduction of two new members responsible for signalling & telecom and for stores respectively. In December 2019, the

Union Cabinet The Union Council of Ministers is the Cabinet (government), principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India' ...

decided to reduce the size of the board from eight to five. 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: * General managers of various zones * Heads of functional divisions * Heads/Managers of production units * Heads of

Public Sector Undertaking Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) in India are State-owned enterprise, government-owned entities in which at least 51% of stake is under the ownership of the Government of India or State governments of India, state governments. These types of f ...

s * Heads of railway institutes * Heads of special divisions

Functional division

The organization is divided into separate functional groups of traction,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

signalling A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

materials A material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their ge ...

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

, RPF,

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

Zonal management

In 1944, all the railway companies in existence at the time were taken over by the Government. 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. 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 South Coast Railway ( SCoR) is one of the 18 railway zones of the Indian Railways. The zonal headquarters is located at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The formal notification for operationalization of this zone is yet to be issued. History ...

is proposed to be created as the eighteenth zone, but is not yet operational as of 2023. Indianrailwayzones-numbered

Structure

In every zone, the functional verticals are represented by head of departments (HODs) responsible for the respective functions in the zone. 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.

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. As of March 2022, Groups A & B constitute 1.5% of the total workforce, while Group C & D account for 98.5%. 80% of Group-A employees are recruited through Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS) with remaining through promotions. The various Group A cadres are as below include: * Central Civil Services recruitment through Civil Services Examination (CSE) **

Indian Railway Traffic Service The Indian Railway Traffic Service, abbreviated as IRTS is a Prestigious Group 'A' Central Civil Service Cadre of the Government of India. IRTS in its present form was reconstituted in 1967. The IRTS Cadre functions under the Administrative Con ...

(IRTS) **

Indian Railway Personnel Service The Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) is a Prestigious Group 'A' Central Civil Service cadre of the Government of India. The central civil servants of this service are responsible for managing the Human Resources of the Indian Railways and ...

(IRPS) **

Indian Railway Accounts Service The Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS; ''Bharatiya Rail Lekha Seva'') is one of the Group A Central Civil Service of the Government of India. The civil servants under this Service are responsible for the Accounts and Finance Management of th ...

(IRAS) ** Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS) * Central Engineering Services recruitment through Engineering Services Examination (ESE) ** Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) **

Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers The Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) is a prestigious group A central engineering services of the Indian railways. The officers of this service are responsible for managing the Electrical Engineering organisation of the Ind ...

(IRSEE) **

Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers The Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME) is one of the group 'A' Government of India, central engineering services of the Indian railways. The officers of this service are responsible for managing the Mechanical Engineering ...

(IRSME) **

Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers The Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE) is a central engineering services group A cadre of the Indian railways. The officers of this service are responsible for managing the Signal and Telecommunications Engineering Organization of ...

(IRSSE) **

Indian Railway Stores Service The Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) is one of the Group A central engineering services of the Government of India. The officers of this service are procurement and logistics specialists and involvement in supply contract management over Indi ...

(IRSS) * Central Health Science Services recruitment through Combined Medical Services Examination (CMSE) **

Indian railway medical service The Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS) is an organized central Group A civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of Railways, consisting of doctors recruited by the Union Public Service Commission's (UPSC) Combined Medical Se ...

(IRMS) 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 The Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB) is a government body established in 1998 under the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways (Railway Board), Government of India. It is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the acti ...

(RRCB) and Group D staffs are recruited by zonal Railway Recruitment Cells (RRC). Indian Railways operates seven centralized training institutes and 295 training centers.

References

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organisational structure An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination, and supervision are directed toward the achievement of organizational aims. Organizational structure affects organizational action and provides the founda ...