SATHEE: Railway Ministers History

Railway Ministers History

Item	Details
First Railway Minister of India	John Matthai (15 Aug 1947–22 Sep 1948)
First Indian to hold the portfolio	N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar (1948–1952)
Longest continuous tenure	Lal Bahadur Shastri – 5 years 10 months (1956-1961)
Shortest tenure	K.C. Reddy (21 days, Jan–Feb 1975)
Only PM who also kept Railway charge	Morarji Desai (March–July 1977)
First woman Railway Minister	Mamata Banerjee (1999–2000)
President’s Rule period Railway Minister	Kamalapati Tripathi (1975–77, informal status)
Railway Budget merged with Union Budget	2017 (Finance Minister Arun Jaitley)
First to present 5 Railway budgets consecutively	Madhu Dandavate (1979-1984)
Minister during 1987 Bihar earthquake relief	Madhavrao Scindia
Minister who introduced ‘Palace on Wheels’	Kamlapati Tripathi (1982)
Minister during first anti-collision device trials	Nitish Kumar (2001-04)
Minister who flagged off first Delhi Metro run	Mamata Banerjee (24 Dec 2002)
Minister who announced first Bullet-Train proposal	Dinesh Trivedi (2012 Rail Budget)
Minister who launched Vande Bharat Express	Piyush Goyal (15 Feb 2019)
First Minister from Maharashtra	S.K. Patil (1952-56)
First Minister from Tamil Nadu	C. Subramaniam (1964-66)
First Minister from BJP	Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1977)
First Minister to resign after accident	Lal Bahadur Shastri (1956 Ariyalur accident)
Current Railway Minister (as on 25 Dec 2025)	Ashwini Vaishnaw (since 7 July 2021)

Portfolio created on 15 August 1947; initially combined with Transport.
Separate Railway Budget presented every year till 2016.
Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned twice on moral grounds after accidents—setting ethical benchmark.
Mamata Banerjee remains only Minister to present Railway Budget twice in same calendar year (2000 & 2009-11).
Nitish Kumar’s ‘2003 Rail Budget’ is called the “turn-around budget” for cutting losses.
Dinesh Trivedi forced to roll back fare-hike in 2012 by own party (TMC).
Suresh Prabhbh’s 2015 Budget coined slogan “Indian Railways—lifeline of the nation”.
Piyush Goyal’s tenure saw 100% electrification target advanced to 2023.
Vande Bharat (Train-18) was indigenously designed by Integral Coach Factory, Chennai under Goyal.
Railway Minister post has changed hands 42 times in 78 years (avg. ≈1.8 years).
No Railway Minister has ever been removed through a no-confidence motion.
During President’s Rule (1975-77), Railway portfolio handled by Planning Minister.
Since 2017, Railway expenditure forms part of Union Budget Demand No. 16.
Cabinet rank always accorded to Railway Minister except for 21-day stint of K.C. Reddy (MoS I/C).
Ashwini Vaishnaw became first IIT-alumnus to hold full-time charge.

1. Who was the first Railway Minister of independent India?

A) N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar B) John Matthai C) Lal Bahadur Shastri D) C. D. Deshmukh Answer: B

2. Which Railway Minister later became the Prime Minister of India?

A) Atal Bihari Vajpayee B) Charan Singh C) Morarji Desai D) H. D. Deve Gowda Answer: C

3. The Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget in which financial year?

A) 2014-15 B) 2016-17 C) 2017-18 D) 2018-19 Answer: C

4. Who presented the maximum number of Railway budgets consecutively?

A) Lalu Prasad B) Mamata Banerjee C) Madhu Dandavate D) Nitish Kumar Answer: C

5. First woman to hold the Railway portfolio was—

A) Sushma Swaraj B) Mamata Banerjee C) Uma Bharti D) Indira Gandhi Answer: B

6. Who resigned as Railway Minister after the 1956 Ariyalur train accident?

A) Jagjivan Ram B) Lal Bahadur Shastri C) Gulzarilal Nanda D) K. C. Reddy Answer: B

7. “Palace on Wheels” luxury train was introduced during the tenure of—

A) Madhavrao Scindia B) Kamlapati Tripathi C) C. K. Jaffer Sharief D) Janeshwar Mishra Answer: B

8. The first IIT-graduate full-time Railway Minister is—

A) Suresh Prabhu B) Piyush Goyal C) Ashwini Vaishnaw D) D. V. Sadananda Gowda Answer: C

9. Vande Bharat Express was commercially flagged off on 15 Feb 2019 by—

A) Narendra Modi B) Piyush Goyal C) Ashwini Vaishnaw D) Suresh Prabhu Answer: A (Note: as Prime Minister; Railway charge with Piyush Goyal)

10. Who among the following had the shortest stint as Railway Minister?

A) K. C. Reddy B) Ram Naik C) Dinesh Trivedi D) C. P. Joshi Answer: A