Arun Kumar S Balaji Posted as PCOM, South Western Railway

Arun Kumar S Balaji, presently Chief Traffic Planning Manager at Southern Railway, has been transferred to South Western Railway and posted as Principal Chief Operations Manager. He is an officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service.

The PCOM is the senior-most operations post at the zonal level, responsible for train operations planning, freight movement and overall traffic management across South Western Railway's divisions covering Karnataka and parts of neighbouring states.

Balaji moves to South Western Railway from Southern Railway, where he held the post of Chief Traffic Planning Manager — a role focused on capacity and traffic planning rather than day-to-day operations, giving him planning experience relevant to his new operational charge.

South Western Railway has been working on doubling key single-line sections to ease congestion on routes shared by passenger and freight services, a priority area that will fall directly under the PCOM's oversight.

His transfer between zones, rather than promotion within Southern Railway, reflects the railway's practice of moving officers across zones at senior levels to bring varied operational exposure into top zonal posts.

As PCOM, Balaji will oversee both passenger punctuality and freight throughput on a zone that has been steadily expanding its line capacity, balancing the two as traffic volumes grow.

The posting takes effect as per the order issued by the Railway Board.