Ashwani Lohani new Railway Board chairman; Suresh Prabhu offers to quit

New Delhi: In the wake of the back-to-back train accidents in Uttar Pradesh since Saturday, Railway Board Chairman AK Mittal has resigned from his post, while Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has offered to step down.

Mittal had submitted his resignation to the ministry on Tuesday evening and the letter was accepted on Wednesday morning.

Air India Managing Director Ashwani Lohani was later appointed as the chairman of the Railway Board. He has also been appointed ex-officio Principal Secretary to the Government of India.

Lohani had earlier served as the divisional regional manager in Delhi and was also the India Tourism Development Corporation chairman, and headed the Rail Museum in Delhi, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had asked Prabhu to “wait” when he offered to resign, will take a final decision on the matter.

"Prime Minister will take a decision on whatever request the railways minister has made," ANI quoted Jaitley as saying.

Prabhu, under pressure from the Opposition to resign, said in a series of tweets that he was "extremely pained" by the two derailments in Uttar Pradesh.

At least 20 people were killed in an accident in Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Fourteen coaches of the high-speed Utkal Express jumped off the rails, with one of them crashing into a house adjacent to the track near Khatauli.

Another accident took place early on Wednesday in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh. At least 100 passengers were injured after nine coaches of the Delhi-bound Kaifiyat Express derailed in the district.