Born in Maharashtra's Satara district, Surekha Yadav completed a diploma in Electrical Engineering before joining the Railways and rose steadily through the ranks in the male-dominated field

She operated a goods train in 1996, and by 2000, she was promoted to motorwoman. A decade later, she qualified as a ghat driver, eventually taking charge of mail and express trains

For the last several years, Yadav has been operating mail and express trains on various routes

On March 13, 2023, she had the honour of driving the inaugural Vande Bharat Express from Solapur to Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)

Yadav's remarkable career has been a proud chapter in Indian Railways' history and a powerful symbol of women's empowerment