India, Sept. 19 -- In her 36-year-long career, Surekha Yadav, loco pilot or train driver with Central Railway (CR), has manoeuvred every kind of train from goods trains to suburban locals, from regular long-distance trains to premium ones such as Rajdhani and Vande Bharat. The CR employee, who has the proud distinction of being Asia's first woman train driver, will bid goodbye to her trailblazing job on September 30.

On Thursday morning, Yadav was felicitated by her fellow train drivers, department staff and family members as she arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Train Number 22222, the Hazrat Nizamuddin-CSMT Rajdhani Express. "I boarded from Kalyan wearing my blue blazer," she told Hindustan Times. "This could be...