Arvind Malkhede Assumes Charge as Principal Chief Operations Manager of Central Railway
Mumbai/Pune, 23rd February 2026: Arvind Malkhede has taken over as Principal Chief Operations Manager (PCOM) of Central Railway, succeeding S. S. Gupta, who has moved to the Railway Board as Principal Executive Director (Infrastructure).
A 1991-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, Malkhede brings over three decades of experience across operations, commercial management and general administration within Indian Railways. Prior to his new role, he served as Principal Chief Commercial Manager of Central Railway from 2024 to 2026. He also held the post of Senior Deputy General Manager at South Central Railway between 2022 and 2024 and earlier worked as Divisional Railway Manager of Hubballi Division under South Western Railway from 2019 to 2022.
During 2013–15, he served as Chief Freight Transportation Manager at North East Frontier Railway at a time when the critical Lumding–Badarpur–Silchar gauge conversion was underway. In that period, he oversaw logistics planning to ensure uninterrupted movement of food grains and essential supplies to Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and parts of Lower Assam.
Malkhede has also handled several key assignments on Central Railway, including Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Mumbai Division; Deputy Chief Operations Manager (Freight); Deputy General Manager (General); and Deputy Chief Vigilance Officer (Traffic), among other operational and administrative roles.
On deputation, he worked with IRCTC as Group General Manager, heading the West Zone from 2015 to 2019. Earlier, during his tenure with CONCOR from 1999 to 2004, he was associated with the establishment of the Inland Container Depot at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) and also headed the ICD at Nagpur.
A mechanical engineer by qualification, Malkhede is a Chevening Gurukul Scholar and attended a leadership and management programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2009, along with exposure to international institutions in Europe. He has also undergone professional training programmes in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Germany.
Apart from his professional responsibilities, he has been associated with social initiatives, particularly with NGOs working for street children in Mumbai.
