Zones and divisions of Indian Railways

Zones and divisions of Indian Railways

Indian Railways divides its operations into zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of 19 zones (including Metro Railway, Kolkata) and 70 Divisions on Indian Railway System.^[1] Each of the divisions is headed by a Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), who reports to the General Manager (GM) of the zone. A DRM can be appointed from any of the eight organized services of Indian Railways, viz. Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE) , Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME), Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) and Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) for the tenure of three years, but it can be exceeded on the recommendation of Railway Board. The DRM is assisted by one or two Additional Divisional Railway Managers (ADRM) in the working of the division. Divisional officers heading all departments viz. Stores, engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal and telecommunication, accounts, personnel, operating, commercial, safety, medical, security branches report to the Divisional Railway Manager.

The 17 zones and their 68 divisions are listed below.^[2][3] South Coast Railway zone is the newest proposed zone in Indian Railways.^[4]

List of IR Zones available

Railway zone	Code	Zone headquarters	Operational statistics[5] (in FY2011-12)				Railway Divisions
			Route length (km)	Number of Stations	Revenue	Passengers carried (million)
Central Railway	CR	Mumbai CSMT	4,102	612	₹75,447 million (US$940 million)	1,675	Mumbai,[6] Bhusawal,[7] Pune,[8] Solapur,[9] Nagpur CR[10]
Konkan Railway	KR	Navi Mumbai	741	67	₹28,980 million (US$360 million)		Karwar, Ratnagiri
Metro Railway, Kolkata	MTP	Kolkata	40.46	34
Northern Railway	NR	Delhi	6,968	1142	₹89,246 million (US$1.1 billion)	685	Delhi,[11] Ambala,[12] Firozpur,[13] Lucknow NR,[14] Moradabad[15]
North Central Railway	NCR	Prayagraj	3,151	435	₹87,796 million (US$1.1 billion)	182	Prayagraj,[16] Agra,[17] Jhansi[18]
North Eastern Railway	NER	Gorakhpur	3,667	537	₹17,667 million (US$220 million)	250	Izzatnagar,[19] Lucknow NER,[20] Varanasi[21]
Northeast Frontier Railway	NFR	Maligaon, Guwahati	3,948	753	₹21,079 million (US$260 million)	88	Alipurduar, Katihar, Rangiya, Lumding, Tinsukia[22]
North Western Railway	NWR	Jaipur	5,459	663	₹36,240 million (US$450 million)	157	Jaipur,[23] Ajmer,[24] Bikaner,[25] Jodhpur[26]
Eastern Railway	ER	Fairlie Place, Kolkata	2,414	576	₹37,254 million (US$470 million)	1,173	Howrah,[27] Sealdah,[28] Asansol,[29] Malda[30]
East Central Railway	ECR	Hajipur	3,628	800	₹59,386 million (US$740 million)	222	Danapur,[31] Dhanbad,[32] Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya,[33] Samastipur,[34] Sonpur[35]
East Coast Railway	ECoR	Bhubaneswar	2,204	342	₹87,884 million (US$1.1 billion)	86	Khurda Road,[36] Sambalpur,[37] Rayagada[38]
Southern Railway	SR	Chennai Central	5,079	890	₹81,820 million (US$1.0 billion)	406	Chennai,[39] Tiruchirappalli,[40] Madurai,[41] Palakkad,[42] Salem,[43] Thiruvananthapuram[44]
South Central Railway[45]	SCR	Secunderabad Junction	3,127	883	₹89,114 million (US$1.1 billion)	378	Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Nanded
South Coast Railway[45]	SCoR	Visakhapatnam	3,496		₹130,000 million (US$1.6 billion)[a]		Waltair, Vijayawada, Guntur, Guntakal
South Eastern Railway	SER	Garden Reach, Kolkata	2,631	353	₹73,721 million (US$920 million)	263	Adra,[46] Chakradharpur,[47] Kharagpur,[48] Ranchi[49]
South East Central Railway	SECR	Bilaspur	2,447	358	₹63,402 million (US$790 million)	126	Bilaspur,[50] Raipur,[51] Nagpur SEC[52]
South Western Railway	SWR	Hubballi	3,566	456	₹26,384 million (US$330 million)	181	Hubballi,[53] Bengaluru,[54] Mysuru[55]
Western Railway	WR	Mumbai (Churchgate)	6,182	1046	₹82,167 million (US$1.0 billion)	1,654	Mumbai WR,[56] Ratlam,[57] Ahmedabad, Rajkot,[58] Bhavnagar,[59] Vadodara[60]
West Central Railway	WCR	Jabalpur	2,965	372	₹65,135 million (US$820 million)	138	Jabalpur,[61] Bhopal,[62] Kota[63]

Kolkata is the city with most Zonal Headquarters of Indian Railways having the headquarters of Eastern Zone, South Eastern zone and Metro Railway, Kolkata.

Name of Department	Headed by	Abbre.	Role and function
Engineering Department	Senior Divisional Engineer/Divisional Engineer	Sr.DEN/DEN	Maintenance of all fixed assets of the Division, i.e. Track, Bridges, Buildings, Roads, Water supply etc.
Mechanical Engineering Department	Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer	Sr.DME	Maintenance of Carriages and Wagons of the Division.
Electrical Engineering Department (General)	Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer	Sr.DEE (General)	Maintenance of lighting and power for railway buildings.
Electrical Engineering Department (Traction Distribution)	Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer	Sr.DEE (TRD)	Maintenance of Overhead equipment.
Electrical Engineering Department (Operations)	Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer	Sr.DEE (OP)	Maintenance of operations of all locomotives including EMUs/MEMUs and its establishment i.e. Assistant Loco Pilots,Loco Pilots,Loco Inspector and Guards.
Signal & Telecommunication Engineering Department	Senior Divisional Signal & Telecommunication Engineer	Sr.DSTE	Management of the Signalling and Telecommunication (S&T) infrastructure of the division for Safe Train operations;
Operating and Traffic (Transportation) Department	Senior Divisional Operations Manager	Sr.DOM	Train operations
Commercial Department	Senior Divisional Commercial Manager	Sr.DCM	Passenger ticketing, ticket checking, booking of freight rakes and collecting fares
Medical Department	Chief Medical Superintendent	CMS	Providing medical facilities to railway employees and their families
Safety Department	Senior Divisional Safety Officer	Sr.DSO	Ensuring safety of train operations
Stores Department	Senior Divisional Material Manager	Sr.DMM	Ensuring material for maintenance of trains (material for all departments except the Engineering Department)
Accounts Department	Senior Divisional Finance Manager	Sr.DFM	Financial management of the division
Personnel Department	Senior Divisional Personnel Officer	Sr.DPO	HR functions
Security Department	Senior Divisional Security Commissioner	Sr.DSC	Security of railway material, passenger and passenger belongings
Managing Department	Divisional Railway Manager	DRM	Managing all departments