On the occasion of International Women’s Day, an all women crew special train was inaugurated from Visakhapatnam to Rayagada. This is the first time ever East Coast Railway has launched an all-female crew passenger train to celebrate the theme, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, which was coined by the Waaltair Division of East Coast Railway.
The train, flagged off by the president of East Coast Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation (ECoRwWO) Parijata Satpathy, had three women who drove the train — loco pilot Sahana Kumari, Assistant Loco Pilot N. Madhuri and Goods Guard K. Ramya. The Three Ticket Checking staff were C V G Mangeswari, B Khillar, and D Radha.
Speaking to Telangana Today, senior divisional commercial manager A.K. Tripathi, said that the Indian Railways in general, and Waltair Division in particular, always proved its commitment for women empowerment by forming exclusive women teams who are engaged in maintenance of crucial parts of Locos, as well as track maintenance and train operations. Women have also been hired as goods guards, loco pilots, recruited for ticket checking and in office duties. “Waltair Division also operated an exclusive women security team Meri Saheli which takes care of women passengers in trains or at Station,” he said.