Chair of the Supervisory Board, Werner Gatzer: “With Evelyn Palla, DB’s new start will be a success.”
On 23 September 2025, the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG appointed Evelyn Palla as the new Chair of the Management Board and CEO, effective 1 October 2025. The current CEO, Dr Richard Lutz, will leave the company by mutual agreement on 30 September 2025.
Supervisory Board Chair Werner Gatzer thanked Dr Richard Lutz for his many years of service to DB: “Richard Lutz has made a definitive impact on the Group’s development over a period of more than 30 years, first as a controller and as CFO and, since 2017, as Chair of the Management Board and CEO. The Strong Rail strategy he implemented has played a crucial part in facilitating the turnaround in Germany’s transport policy and has been a guiding light for everyone at DB in times marked by extreme operational challenges. Furthermore, by overseeing the launch of the S3 turnaround programme last year, he initiated the restructuring of the Group into the three dimensions of infrastructure, operations and profitability, and achieved tangible successes early on. On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Richard Lutz for his service to DB.”
On 14 August 2025, Patrick Schnieder, Federal Transport Minister, Werner Gatzer, Chair of the Supervisory Board, and Richard Lutz, Chair of the Management Board and CEO, reached an amicable agreement to terminate the latter’s contract prematurely. It was agreed that Richard Lutz would remain in the top position until a successor was found.
Evelyn Palla, born in the South Tyrol region of northern Italy in 1973, began her career at Infineon Technologies AG in 1997. In 2003, she joined E.ON AG, and worked in Munich, Cologne and Milan. In 2011, Palla moved to ÖBB, Austrian Federal Railways, in Vienna. She became Member of the Board for Regional Transport at ÖBB Personenverkehr AG in 2015. From this time onward, she also held the position of Chair of the Supervisory Board of ÖBB Postbus AG. Palla started at Deutsche Bahn in February 2019 as the CFO of DB Fernverkehr AG. In July 2022, she was appointed Member of the Board for Regional Transport at Deutsche Bahn AG.
UIC would like to extend its warmest congratulations to Ms Palla on her appointment.
