New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS): The government on Thursday appointed Suneet Sharma, the General Manager of the Eastern Railways, as the new Railway Board Chairman and CEO of the Indian Railways.

An official notification said: "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Sharma, IRSME (1981) to the post of Chairman, Railway Board and CEO, Railway vice V.K. Yadav upon completion of term of his re-employment on December 31, 2020."

Appointed General Manager of the Eastern Railway on September 19 last year, Sharma possesses strong technical background and has expertise in various facts of working over Indian Railways.

He has shouldered the responsibility in discharging functions at various levels, including Zonal Railways, workshops and Diesel Loco Sheds, spread over three decades experience of working in the Indian Railways.

Sharma has been known for introducing various administrative reforms, including simplification of procedure for establishing new benchmarks in the national transporter.

He was formerly General Manager of Modern Coach Factory in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli and was also the Divisional Railway Manager in Pune, Chief Rolling Stock Engineer (Freight) and Chief Mechanical Engineer (Planning) of the Central Railway and the Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer, Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi.

Apart from attending different training programmes in various Railway Institutes, he attended training in Germany and France on "Railway Workshops Maintenance Practices and Costing Systems", in Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, US on "Advance Management Courses" and in RAI, Tehran, on "Assistance in Loco Production In Iran".