According to a letter issued by Roy last week, senior railway officials will be transferred at the sole discretion of Railway Minister and Chairman Railway Board (CRB).
"The proposals of transfers of officers up to selection grade be approved at the level of CRB and in cases of tenure postings should be submitted to (Railway) minister's approval," it said.
Till now Railway Board Members were empowered to transfer any official in their respective departments without CRB or Railway Minister's approval.
The order has taken away power of issuing transfer order from members with immediate effect, sources in railways said.
On what caused the minister to take the decision, a source said, "Of late, there were indiscriminate and frequent transfers in Electrical and Mechanical wings of railways that has created widespread resentment among officials at Rail Bhawan.
It was also affecting the smooth functioning of the Railways. So the order was issued to prevent frequent transfer of officials of selection grade and above."
Recently there have been cases where some joint secretary- level officers were transferred before the end of their five- year tenure.