Air India chief Ashwani Lohani to head Railway Board

NEW DELHI: Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani was today appointed chairman of the Railway Board after the incumbent A K Mital resigned from the post, officials said.

The announcement by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet came hours after Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu indicated that he had offered his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the recent train accidents.

"Necessary communication in this regard has been sent to the Ministry of Railways," the committee said.

Mital had tendered his resignation to Prabhu last evening and it was accepted today morning, sources said.

Lohani, an officer of the railway mechanical service, had served earlier as the Divisional Regional Manager of Delhi. He was also ITDC chairman as well as the director of the Rail Museum in the capital.

Mital, a 1976-batch officer of the Indian Railway Stores, was reappointed to the same post two days before his retirement in 2016. With the two-year extension, Mital was to remain in office till July 2018.