Title - Top CR official shunted out over poor suburban services

The divisional railway manager (DRM) for Mumbai, Rahul Jain, was shunted to the Hubli division on Monday. His transfer follows a rash of incidents on the Central Railway’s suburban network - train derailments, signal failures, delayed services - and a growing unease among top officials over tardy pace of development work.

Jain, who had not completed his mandatory two-year term as DRM, will be replaced by the executive director (coaching) of Railway Board, Mukesh Nigam.

A senior CR official said that the Railway Ministry decided to shift Jain after the top brass, including board chairman Vinay Mittal, expressed their displeasure over deteriorating suburban train services.

“Over the past few months, the reputation of Central Railway and Mumbai division has taken a massive hit. The ministry believes a change of guard might help improve the situation,” the official said.

Jain, an officer of Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers, came into the railways through the prestigious Special Class Apprentice exam. He is considered an efficient officer, but his soft-spoken manner and “inability” to crack the whip on subordinates worked against him.

Nigam, 51, a 1984-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service officer, is expected to take charge as the new DRM in the next few days. Preventing train delays caused by technical snags, completing CR’s switch from Direct Current to Alternative Current and introducing 12-car trains on the Harbour Line are among his top priorities, an official said.