Indian Railway Organization Structure
The Indian Railways has been divided based on the functional groups of Indian Railway Service. In a way reluctant to alter the management set up and its hierarchy, the IR has at the top the Railway Board, also called as Railway Ministry.
A chairman heads the six-member Railway Board which reports to the Union Minister. Also, the general managers of all the 18 zones and the production units report to the board.
Division of Indian Railways
There are 67 divisions at the IR each managed by a divisional railway manager (DRM) at each level. Set up to oversee the running time of trains, these divisions may also have loco sheds for repairs, coaching depots (home bases for passenger trains) and wagon depots (for repair and maintenance of freight stock).
Each division has all the functional (both line and staff) elements. While DRM is sought for issues related to administration, for broader policy guidelines the heads of these functional groups depend on inputs from the Railway Board and the zonal headquarters.
Indian Railways Production units
The entire rolling stock and high precision components are manufactured at the IR's six production units which are managed directly by the Railway Board.
Some of the popular stock builders are CLW and DLW (electric, diesel locomotives), ICF and RCF for passenger coaches. The IR has not only achieved self-sufficiency in the production of rolling stocks but has been exporting the same to other countries. The GM of a production unit reports directly to the Railway Board.
Zones in Indian Railways
There are at present 18 zones of the Indian Railways:
| No. | Name | Abbr. | Headquarters |
| 1. | Northern Railway | NR | Delhi |
| 2. | North Eastern Railway | NER | Gorakhpur |
| 3. | Northeast Frontier Railway | NFR | Guwahati |
| 4. | Eastern Railway | ER | Kolkata |
| 5. | South Eastern Railway | SER | Kolkata |
| 6. | South Central Railway | SCR | Secunderabad |
| 7. | Southern Railway | SR | Chennai |
| 8. | Central Railway | CR | Mumbai |
| 9. | Western Railway | WR | Mumbai |
| 10. | South Western Railway | SWR | Hubli |
| 11. | North Western Railway | NWR | Jaipur |
| 12. | West Central Railway | WCR | Jabalpur |
| 13. | North Central Railway | NCR | Allahabad |
| 14. | South East Central Railway | SECR | Bilaspur, CG |
| 15. | East Coast Railway | ECoR | Bhubaneswar |
| 16. | East Central Railway | ECR | Hajipur |
| 17. | Konkan Railway | KR | Panvel |
| 18. | Kolkata Metro | KMR | Kolkata |
PSUs related to Railways
Some organisations under the control of the Railway Board take care of the electrification, modernisation, research and design and training of officers. They are each head by a GM.
A number of PSUs, which perform railway-related functions ranging from consultancy to ticketing, are also under the administrative control of the Railway Board. These 14 PSUs are:
- Bharat Wagon and Engineering Co. Ltd. (BWEL)
- Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)[24]
- Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR)
- Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL)
- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC)
- Indian Railway Construction (IRCON) International Limited
- Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC)
- Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL)
- Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC)
- Railtel Corporation of India Limited (Rail Tel)
- Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES)
- Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL)
- High Speed Rail Corporation of India (HSRC)
- Burn Standard Company
- Braithwaite and Co. Ltd