Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, popularly known as the “Metro Man”, is an Indian engineer who played a key role in the building of the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro. In India millions of people are dependent on the public transport and the credit for changing the very face of Indian public transport goes to this enterprising engineer. The man who began his career as a lecturer in an engineering college appeared for the Engineering Services Examination (ESE) and joined the Indian Engineering Service (IES). He first proved his ability as an engineer when he was put in-charge of restoring a bridge that had been damaged by a cyclone. He executed the complete work within 46 days as against the six months allotted to this task. Recognized by the government for his brilliance, he was made the in-charge for planning and designing the Kolkata metro, the very first metro in India. The next several years saw him working with the single-minded conviction to improvise the public transport system in India. He had become such an invaluable asset to Indian Railways that the government let him know that his services would be required even after he retired from IES. Several national and international honors have been bestowed upon him for his pioneering works.
