Suneet takes over as Chairman of Rly Board

New Delhi, Jan 01: Suneet Sharma, has taken over the charge of new Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Railway Board (Ministry of Railways) and ex-officio Principal Secretary to Government of India. The appointments committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Suneet Sharma as Chairman & CEO of Railway Board. Prior to this, Suneet Sharma worked as General Manager, Eastern Railway.

Suneet Sharma joined the Indian Railways in 1979 as a Special Class Apprentice while he was studying engineering at IIT Kanpur. A graduate in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering he has more than 40 years of experience serving in the Indian Railways in various capacities.

He has done stints in Operational working, maintenance in Sheds, Depots and Workshops. He was Chief Workshop Manager, Parel workshop in Mumbai where he was instrumental in manufacturing narrow gauge locomotives for hill railways. He also restored old steam narrow gauge locomotive for the heritage Matheran line near Mumbai. During the 2006 Mumbai suburban train blasts, he was part of the team which put the suburban network on track within a few hours after the terror attack. As ADRM, Mumbai CST, he is credited with increasing the services of the suburban network, which is considered the life-line of Mumbai. During the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, he was part of the team that managed the aftermath of the attacks at Mumbai CST, Central Railway. As DRM, Pune he was instrumental in adding infrastructure which brought about operational efficiency. As Chief Mechanical Engineer diesel locomotive works Varanasi he was team leader for starting electric locomotive production. Conversion of diesel to electric locomotives took place under his leadership in record time and for the first time anywhere in the world.

As General Manager Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli he set a record by doubling the out turn of the much required modern passenger coaches in one year.

As General Manager Eastern Railway, he took initiative in increasing the speed of goods trains to a record level and for completing a number of infrastructure projects of new lines and electrification which not only resulted in operational efficiency but developed the local areas. He is known for bringing about systemic changes for ease of working and administrative reforms.

During the course of his career, he has won many professional awards. As General Manager (Modern Coach Factory Raebareli) and Chief Mechanical Engineer (Banaras Locomotive Works)) the factories won the award for best production units.

Suneet Sharma has attended professional training in Germany and France and he has done an advanced leadership and management course at Carnegie Mellon University in USA. He has visited Iran as a consultant for manufacture of locomotives.

He is an avid sportsman and has played Billiards and Snooker at competitive level. He is also a keen golfer and a badminton and squash player.