Air India chief Ashwani Lohani to head Railway Board

New Delhi: Air India chief Ashwani Lohani was on Wednesday named the Chairman of the Railway Board to succeed A.K. Mittal, who stepped down in the wake of repeated train accidents.

An official statement said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Lohani's appointment.

Lohani belongs to the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers of the 1980 batch.

Mittal's resignation has been accepted, a Railway Ministry spokesperson told IANS earlier.

Lohani's appointment came hours after Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offered to quit after a second train derailed in Uttar Pradesh in four days, injuring 74 people. Prabhu said Modi had asked him to "wait".