Former Eastern Railway general manager Suneet Sharma was on Thursday appointed the new Railway Board Chairman and CEO upon the completion of the term of incumbent V K Yadav. Yadav was given an extension in January this year.
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.
Suneet Sharma is known for introducing various administrative reforms, including simplification of the procedure for establishing new benchmarks, in the Railways, according to the records. Sharma has also held the post of the general manager of the Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli. He was the divisional railway manager of Pune in Central Railway, chief rolling stock engineer (Freight) and chief mechanical engineer (Planning) of Central Railway and the principal chief mechanical engineer, Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi, the records stated.
He also restored an 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.
During the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, he was part of the team that managed the aftermath of the attacks at Mumbai CST, Central Railway. Sharma has also attended professional training in Germany and France and has done an advanced leadership and management course at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA. He has visited Iran as a consultant for the manufacture of locomotives.
