Suresh Prabhu offers to resign; Railway Board gets new chairman

Railway minister Suresh Prabhu has offered to resign in the wake of the second train accident in just five days even as the railway ministry appointed  Air India chief Ashwani Lohani as the chairman of the Railway Board after Ashok Mittal resigned in the morning today.

Lohani, an Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME) cadre officer, had served as divisional railway manager, Delhi Division; director, National Rail Museum and chief administrative officer, Indian Railway Organisation for Alternate Fuels (IROAF).

He holds a Guinness Record for successfully running the 'Fairy Queen Express' plying between New Delhi and Alwar, in Rajasthan.

Built in 1855, the 5-ft 6-inch Fairy Queen is the world's oldest working steam locomotive.

Lohani, who holds four engineering degrees, has authored two books (one on steam engines and the other on management) and is credited with the turnaround of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation and the India Tourism Development Corporation.

Meanwhile, railway minister Suresh Prabhu met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offered to quit, but was asked to wait, indicating a likely change of portfolio in the imminent cabinet expansion after senior ministers like Venkaiah Naidu and  Manohar Parrikar exited the cabinet.

''I met the Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi taking full moral responsibility. Hon'ble PM has asked me to wait'', Prabhu tweeted.

''I am extremely pained by the unfortunate accidents, injuries to the passengers and the loss of precious lives. It has caused me deep anguish. New India envisioned by PM deserves a railway which is efficient and modern. I promise that is the path, on which railway is progressing now'', he tweeted.

''Under the leadership of PM, tried 2 overcome decades of neglect through systemic reforms in all areas leading 2 unprecedented investment & milestones. In less than three years as Minister, I have devoted my blood and sweat for the betterment of the Railways'', the minister tweeted.

Meanwhile, Prabhu has come under attack from the opposition parties over the two major railway accidents in the past four days.

The Kaifyat Express derailed at Auriya in Uttar Pradesh early in the morning today, injuring as many as 74 passengers, after the train dashed against a dumper carrying construction material for railway work.

The accident follows a major train tragedy on Saturday last when Utkal Express derailed in Khatauli near Muzaffarnagar leaving over 22 dead and 156 others injured.

Prabhu had sent three top officials- member (engineer) in the Railway Board, Aditya Kumar Mittal, Northern Railway General Manager R K Kulshrestha and Divisional Railway Manager (Delhi) R N Singh - on leave.

Besides four other officials have been suspended and one officer has been transferred.

Nearly 53 per cent of the 586 train accidents in the last five years were due to derailments. The worst of them happened in November 2016 when 150 passengers died after the Indore-Patna Express derailed.