In March 1905, the railway branch of the
Public Works Department was transferred to the newly established railway board under the
department of commerce and industry by the Indian Railway Board Act. In 1908, the set up was re-organized on the recommendations of the Railway Finance Committee (1908) by constituting the
Railway Board headed by a president as a separate department. Pursuant to the
Acworth committee's recommendations in 1921, the railway board was expanded to four members with the addition of a financial commissioner in 1924 apart from the chief commissioner, one commissioners responsible for ways and works, projects and stores and the other responsible for general administration, staff and traffic. In 1950, the railway board was re-constituted to four members with the senior-most functional member appointed the chairman of the board with no absolute over riding power. In October 1954, the
chairman of the board was made responsible for decisions on technical and policy matters, with the status of a principal secretary to the
Government of India with an additional member added. In 2004, the board is expanded by the introduction of two new members responsible for signalling & telecom and for stores respectively. In December 2019, the
Union Cabinet decided to reduce the size of the board from eight to five. The chairman of the railway board reports to the Ministry of Railways and act on behalf of the ministry. The following report to the railway board: • General managers of various zones • Heads of functional divisions • Heads/Managers of production units • Heads of
Public Sector Undertakings • Heads of railway institutes • Heads of special divisions == Functional division ==