A day after initiating a fresh vigilance enquiry against Shubhranshu, Chief Administrative Officer, Railway Wheel Factory, Bela, the Railway Board, POP late on Wednesday issued orders transferring him to a less prominent post in East Central Railway.
Mr. Shubhranshu is the architect of Train18, which was later flagged off as Vande Bharat Express by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February, 2019.
Soon after allegations of compromise on safety and favouring one firm in the purchase of propulsion equipment surfaced, vigilance enquiries were initiated against him and a few other senior officials who were part of Team Train18. Mr. Shubhranshu was moved out of the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, where he led a specialised team of engineers that designed and developed the country’s first semi-high speed train in a record 18-month time in 2018.
Though the Central Vigilance Commission dropped action in the vigilance case against him and a few others, the Vigilance Directorate of the Railway Board launched a fresh case on Tuesday. The next day, the officer, belonging to the 1983-batch of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME), was posted as Chief Mechanical Engineer, Planning, East Central Railway, Hajipur.
According to railway sources, Mr Shubhranshu would have to report to an officer much junior to him in the new assignment. When contacted over phone the officer refused to comment on his transfer.
However, sources said that he had appealed to the Cabinet Secretary against the dropping of his name from the panel of officers cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet for posting as General Manager in Zonal Railways.
