P Ananth takes charge as South Western Railway top official

Bengaluru:  P Ananth on Thursday assumed charge as the General Manager of the Hubballi-headquartered South Western Railway (SWR), 85 per cent of whose jurisdiction falls within Karnataka.

An Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) officer of the 1989 batch, Ananth succeeds Mukul Saran Mathur, who retired on superannuation in January. He had been working as Additional General Manager, SWR, since October 13, 2025.

Ananth, a Delhi native and a mechanical engineer by training, served as Director (Manpower Planning) in the Railway Board from 2002 to 2008 and as Chief Mechanical Engineer at Banaras Locomotive Works from 2012 to 2017.

From 2017 onwards, he was associated with the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), as General Manager (Coach Maintenance Management System).

There, he was instrumental in developing and deploying mission-critical application software that supports various operational functions across Indian Railways. He served as Divisional Railway Manager, Madurai, from August 2021 to October 2023, according to a railway
statement.