NEW DELHI: In a major revamp of Indian Railways, the government on Tuesday decided to merge eight different services and create Indian Railways Management Services (IRMS), while restructuring the railway board to create a structure similar to a company board as part of a plan to put the state transporter back on track.The new structure of the leaner railway board — the apex decision-making body — is intended to streamline operations and improve decision-making, while the move to merge the eight services is aimed at ending turf war among services. Currently, the board comprises eight members, each representing their service, with the chairman being the first among equals. The structure has remained unchanged since 1905.Under the new system, the chairman will have the CEO tag attached and be the final authority on all issues. In addition, there will be four members, handling finance, operations and business development, infrastructure and rolling stock portfolios. There will also be director general in-charge of human resources, who will report to the chairman and CEO. In addition, the board will have independent members, who will be experts in fields such as finance, industry and management, much like independent directors on corporate boards.Sources said the exercise to restructure the railway board and merge the services started after Narendra Modi took a review meeting of transport infrastructure sector in October. On November 11, TOI had reported that PM had ticked off the railway bureaucracy for resisting reforms and how there would be hardly any improvement on the ground even if the board chairman would commit for something at the meeting.While the government has been seeking to restructure railways for over five years now, it has been hobbled by inter-service rivalry a case in point being Train 18, where the electrical and mechanical cadres were at loggerheads, delaying the launch. Unification of services has been recommended by various panels for reforming railways, including the Prakash Tandon Committee (1994), Rakesh Mohan Committee (2001), Sam Pitroda Committee (2012) and Bibek Debroy Committee (2015).“The Modi government has taken the bold decision to meet next level challenges and deal with various existing difficulties...Though there was a view to have two services, all officers unanimously supported the need for a single service,” railway minister Piyush Goyal told reporters after the Union Cabinet cleared the plan. The minister also clarified that the chairman and CEO will be from the railway service.With the decision now in place, a committee of secretaries and a panel of ministers will be entrusted with the task of implementing it, especially fixing the seniority of the 8,200 officers who have been recruited through different exams. The IRMS will be in place in the next recruitment year, an official statement said.The government said now the newly recruited officers will come from engineering and non-engineering disciplines as per need and posted considering their aptitude and specialisation. Selection for the general management positions shall be through a merit-based system unlike the present norm of seniority.