India has the fourth-largest Rail Network in the world. Indian Railways is also the eighth biggest employer in the World. Such facts make the job of a railway minister extremely crucial. There have been 41 Railway Ministers in India from 1947 to 2023. Fortunately, all ministers have done a formidable job. Today, the Railway is considered one of the most dependable departments in the Government of India.
Names of Railway Ministers are often asked in government job recruitment exams. So, if you are a student then you should take note of all Railway Ministers of India from 1947 to the present.
List of All Railway Ministers From 1947 to 2023
The President of India appoints the Railway Minister on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. In case the office of Minister of Railways is vacant due to any situation then it is the duty of the Prime Minister to handle the charge of the ministry. Here is the list of All Railway Ministers of India Since Independence.
| Name | Tenure | Party |
| John Mathai | 15 August 1947 to 22 September 1948 | Indian National Congress |
| N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar | 22 September 1948 to 13 May 1952 | Indian National Congress |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri | 13 May 1952 to 7 December 1956 | Indian National Congress |
| Jagjivan Ram | 7 December 1956 to 10 April 1962 | Indian National Congress |
| Swaran Singh | 10 April 1962 to 21 September 1963 | Indian National Congress |
| H.C. Dasappa | 21 September to 1963 8 June 1964 | Indian National Congress |
| S.K. Patil | 9 June 1964 to 12 March 1967 | Indian National Congress |
| C.M. Poonacha | 13 March 1967 to 14 February 1969 | Indian National Congress |
| Ram Subhag Singh | 14 February 1969 to 4 November 1969 | Indian National Congress |
| Panampilly Govinda Menon | 4 November 1969 to 18 February 1970 | Indian National Congress |
| Gulzarilal Nanda | 18 February 1970 to 17 March 1971 | Indian National Congress |
| K. Hanumanthaiah | 18 March 1971 to 22 July 1972 | Indian National Congress |
| T.A. Pai | 23 July 1972 to 4 February 1973 | Indian National Congress |
| Lalit Narayan Mishra | 5 February 1973 to 2 January 1975 | Indian National Congress |
| Kamlapati Tripathi | 11 February 1975 to 23 March 1977 | Indian National Congress |
| Madhu Dandavate | 26 March 1977 to 28 July 1979 | Janata Party |
| T.A. Pai | 30 July 1979 to 14 January 1980 | Janata Party (Secular) |
| Kamalapati Tripathi | 14 January 1980 to 12 November 1980 | Indian National Congress |
| Kedar Pandey | 12 November 1980 to 14 January 1982 | Indian National Congress |
| Prakash Chandra Sethi | 15 January 1982 to 2 September 1982 | Indian National Congress |
| A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury | 2 September 1982 to 31 December 1984 | Indian National Congress |
| Bansi Lal | 31 December 1984 to 24 June 1986 | Indian National Congress |
| Mohsina Kidwai | 24 June 1986 to 21 October 1986 | Indian National Congress |
| Madhavrao Scindia | 22 October 1986 to 2 December 1989 | Indian National Congress |
| George Fernandes | 2 December 1989 to 10 November 1990 | Janata Dal |
| Janeshwar Mishra | 21 November 1990 to 21 June 1991 | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) |
| C.K. Jaffer Sharief | 21 June 1991 to 17 October 1995 | Indian National Congress |
| Ram Vilas Paswan | 1 June 1996 to 19 March 1998 | Janata Dal (United Front) |
| Nitish Kumar | 19 March 1998 to 5 August 1999 | Samata Party |
| Ram Naik | 6 August 1999 to 13 October 1999 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Mamata Banerjee | 13 October 1999 to 15 March 2001 | All India Trinamool Congress |
| Nitish Kumar | 20 March 2001 to 22 May 2004 | Janata Dal (United) |
| Lalu Prasad Yadav | 22 May 2004 to 22 May 2009 | Rashtriya Janata Dal |
| Mamata Banerjee | 22 May 2009 to 19 May 2011 | All India Trinamool Congress |
| Dinesh Trivedi | 12 July 2011 to 19 March 2012 | All India Trinamool Congress |
| Mukul Roy | 20 March 2012 to 22 September 2012 | All India Trinamool Congress |
| C.P. Joshi | 22 September 2012 to 28 October 2012 | Indian National Congress |
| Pawan Kumar Bansal | 29 October 2012 to 10 May 2013 | Indian National Congress |
| C.P. Joshi | 13 May 2013 to 14 June 2013 | Indian National Congress |
| Mallikarjun Kharge | 17 June 2013 to 26 May 2014 | Indian National Congress |
| D.V. Sadananda Gowda | 26 May 2014 to 9 November 2014 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Suresh Prabhu | 9 November 2014 to 3 September 2017 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Piyush Goyal | 3 September 2017 to 7 July 2021 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Ashwini Vaishnaw | 7 July 2021 to Incumbent | Bharatiya Janata Party |
John Matthai – First Railway Minister of India
John Matthai was an economist and the first Minister of Railways in India. He was born on January 10 1886, into an Anglican Syrian Christian family. He also served as Finance Minister of India. John Matthi was also the first governor of the State Bank of India, established in 1955. He was a founder of the Board of Directors of the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi.
In 1954, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest for an Indian civilian, for his contribution to society. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1959. His nephew, Verghese Kurien, is widely recognized as the chief architect of India’s White Revolution.
Note: John Matthai was the first railway minister of Independent India. On the other hand, Asaf Ali was the Minister of Railways in the interim government led by Pt. Nehru from 2nd September 1946 to 14th August 1947.
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Mamata Banerjee – First Women Railway Minister of India
Mamata Banerjee served as the Railway Minister of India twice. She is India’s first female railway minister. She is also the second female minister of coal and Minister for Human Resources Development, Youth Affairs and Sport, and Women and Children’s Development
Currently, Mamata Banerjee is the chief minister of West Bengal. Banerjee was born in Calcutta to a Bengali Hindu Brahmin family. Her father died when she was 17 years old due to a lack of medical attention. In 1975, she came to the attention of the press when she danced on the car of socialist activist and politician Jayaprakash Narayan during a protest.
On 11th December, she grabbed the collar of Samajwadi MP Daroga Prasad Saroj in the well of Lok Sabha. In 2021, Mamata Banerjee was invited to the World Peace Conference in Rome. She was the only Indian invited to the event.
Ashwini Vaishnaw – Current Railway Minister of India
The current Union Minister of Railways is Ashwini Vaishnaw. Born on 18th July 1970, Vaishnaw is a former IAS officer. He joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 and is a Member of Parliament from Odisha.
Vaishnaw joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1994 as a cadre member from Odisha. He has worked extensively throughout Odisha, including as the district collector for the Balasore and Cuttack districts.
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He was promoted to deputy chairman of the Mormugao Port Trust in 2006, and he continued there for the next two years. He eventually left the civil service in 2010 to work in the private sector. Vaishnaw won the Rajya Sabha election without running against anyone with the help of Biju Janata Dal.
List of Ministers of State in the Ministry of Railways
Ministers of state have the responsibility of assisting the cabinet Railway minister. Here are the names of all Indian Ministers of State so far.
| Name of the Minister | Tenure | Political Party |
| Manoj Sinha | 26th May 2014 to 30th May 2019 | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Rajen Gohain | 5th July 2016 to 30th May 2019 | |
| Suresh Angadi | 30th May 2019 to 23rd September 2020 | |
| Raosaheb Danve | Jth July 2021 to Present | |
| Darshana Jardosh | Jth July 2021 to Present |
Railway Minister of India Name in Hindi From 1947 to 2023
- जॉन मथाई – 15 अगस्त 1947 से 22 सितंबर 1948 तक
- एन गोपालस्वामी अयंगर – 22 सितंबर 1948 से 13 मई 1952
- लाल बहादुर शास्त्री – 13 मई 1952 से 7 दिसंबर 1956
- जगजीवन राम – 7 दिसंबर 1956 से 10 अप्रैल 1962 तक
- स्वर्ण सिंह – 10 अप्रैल 1962 से 21 सितंबर 1963 तक
- एच.सी. दसप्पा – 21 सितंबर से 1963 8 जून 1964
- एस.के. पाटिल – 9 जून 1964 से 12 मार्च 1967 तक
- सी.एम पूनाचा – 13 मार्च 1967 से 14 फरवरी 1969 तक
- राम सुभग सिंह – 14 फरवरी 1969 से 4 नवंबर 1969 तक
- पैनमपिल्ली गोविंदा मेनन – 4 नवंबर 1969 से 18 फरवरी 1970 तक
- गुलजारीलाल नंदा – 18 फरवरी 1970 से 17 मार्च 1971 तक
- के. हनुमंथैया – 18 मार्च 1971 से 22 जुलाई 1972 तक
- टी.ए. पई – 23 जुलाई 1972 से 4 फरवरी 1973 तक
- ललित नारायण मिश्रा – 5 फरवरी 1973 से 2 जनवरी 1975 तक
- कमलापति त्रिपाठी – 11 फरवरी 1975 से 23 मार्च 1977 तक
- मधु दंडवते – 26 मार्च 1977 से 28 जुलाई 1979 तक
- टी.ए. पई – 30 जुलाई 1979 से 14 जनवरी 1980 तक
- कमलापति त्रिपाठी – 14 जनवरी 1980 से 12 नवंबर 1980 तक
- केदार पाण्डेय – 12 नवंबर 1980 से 14 जनवरी 1982 तक
- प्रकाश चंद्र सेठी – 15 जनवरी 1982 से 2 सितंबर 1982 तक
- ए.बी.ए. गनी खां चौधरी – 2 सितंबर 1982 से 31 दिसंबर 1984 तक
- बंसी लाल – 31 दिसंबर 1984 से 24 जून 1986 तक
- मोहसिना किदवई – 24 जून 1986 से 21 अक्टूबर 1986 तक
- माधवराव सिंधिया – 22 अक्टूबर 1986 से 2 दिसंबर 1989 तक
- जॉर्ज फर्नांडीस – 2 दिसंबर 1989 से 10 नवंबर 1990 तक
- जनेश्वर मिश्र – 21 नवंबर 1990 से 21 जून 1991
- सी.के. जाफर शरीफ – 21 जून 1991 से 17 अक्टूबर 1995 तक
- रामविलास पासवान – 1 जून 1996 से 19 मार्च 1998 तक
- नीतीश कुमार – 19 मार्च 1998 से 5 अगस्त 1999 तक
- राम नाईक – 6 अगस्त 1999 से 13 अक्टूबर 1999 तक
- ममता बनर्जी – 13 अक्टूबर 1999 से 15 मार्च 2001 तक
- नीतीश कुमार – 20 मार्च 2001 से 22 मई 2004
- लालू प्रसाद यादव – 22 मई 2004 से 22 मई 2009
- ममता बनर्जी – 22 मई 2009 से 19 मई 2011
- दिनेश त्रिवेदी – 12 जुलाई 2011 से 19 मार्च 2012
- मुकुल राय – 20 मार्च 2012 से 22 सितंबर 2012
- सी.पी. जोशी – 22 सितंबर 2012 से 28 अक्टूबर 2012
- पवन कुमार बंसल – 29 अक्टूबर 2012 से 10 मई 2013
- सी.पी. जोशी – 13 मई 2013 से 14 जून 2013
- मल्लिकार्जुन खड़गे – 17 जून 2013 से 26 मई 2014
- डी.वी. सदानंद गौड़ा – 26 मई 2014 से 9 नवंबर 2014
- सुरेश प्रभु – 9 नवंबर 2014 से 3 सितंबर 2017 तक
- पीयूष गोयल – 3 सितंबर 2017 से 7 जुलाई 2021 तक
- अश्विनी वैष्णव – 7 जुलाई 2021 से अब तक
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Frequently Asked Questions
Railway Minister.
Ministry of Railways
Prime Minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri.
