Story of Metro Man E. Sreedharan

There are some builders who need to get everything right in the first go. They cannot fail for on them rests millions of hopes. They are the class of nation builders. One such great builder of modern India is the Metro Man E. Sreedharan.

After graduating from college, Sreedharan started preparing for Indian Railway Service Examination (IRSE) while supporting himself as a college lecturer.

With in a year results were out. Sreedharan had secured an all India IRES rank of 7th. Sreedharan rose quickly in Railways

to become the youngest divisional manager at the age of 26 years. G. P. Warrier, a stalwart in Railways, recognized the spark in Sreedharan and gave him early opportunities to work on Pampan Bridge and later on Calcutta metro project.

Pampan Bridge, an engineering marvel built by Britishers in 1914, connects the holy town of Rameshwaram to mainland India. The bridge suffered severe damages in the cyclone of 1964. Sreedharan was given an impossible task to make the bridge operational in 3 months. Cyclone had

washed all 126 girders. Sreedharan’s out of box thinking and his early tryst with Port Engineering came to his rescue. He fished all 126 girders from the sea using specially crafted cranes and skilled laborers finishing the repair project in record time.

Sreedharan soon found himself on deputation to Cochin Shipyards as its CMD where he rolled out India’s first indigenously built ship Rani Padmini. He joined back Railways finally retiring in 1990.

After a long years of service, when it was time for Sreedharan to take the well deserved break, he was appointed as CMD of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL).

Konkan Railways run through four states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.The treacherous railway line of 760km has 92 tunnels and 2000+ bridges reducing the distance between Mumbai and Mangalore by 1,127 km.

It was Sreedharan’s Project Management skills and his relentless resolve which which made it possible for KRCL to deliver a project of this scale within record time of 7 years. KRCL has been operationally profitable from day one

METRO

After dedicating KRCL to the nation, Sreedharan got another call of duty. Governments in Delhi could trust no one but Sreedharan to fulfill the dreams of giving Delhi and the surrounding capital region a modern transport system. Sreedharan was appointed as head of Delhi

Metro Rail Corporation in May 1995. Unlike the no man’s land of Konkan, Delhi Metro was to be built through densely populated areas of the capital city.

Against a stipulated timeline of 7 years, first phase of Delhi Metro was ready in just 5 years.

Delhi Metro has done wonders for Delhi NCR region. Its more than 200km long metro line is connecting far flung areas providing one of the cheapest, fastest and pollution free modes of transport. As of Mar 2017, Delhi Metro’s ridership had touched 1 Billion commutes a year.

After completion of the second phase, Sreedharan decided to call it a day. He handed over the reign to his team and moved back to his home town. Now over 85yrs year old, Sreedharan counsels Kochi Metro Rail Limited as its Principal Advisor

Sreedharan’s inspirational biography is a story of a relentless Karmayogi who built two institutions DMRC and KRCL from the ground up and delivered world class products to millions of Indians at an affordable price. Winners of multiple prestigious awards,

Sreedharan will always occupy a special place in the hearts of Indians as one of the greatest builders of modern India!

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