The President of the Board of Deutsche Bahn (DB AG), Dr Rüdiger Grube, was elected new Chairman of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) during the CER General Assembly held on 19 September in Berlin. He succeeds former CEO of Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB Mr Christian Kern, who became Chancellor of the Republic of Austria. Mr Andreas Meyer, CEO of Swiss Federal Railways SBB/CFF, had acted as Ad Interim Chairman until the CER General Assembly in Berlin. During the Assembly, Dr Grube warmly thanked Mr Meyer for the good interim chairmanship. The new mandates run in 2016 and until the end of 2017.

Dr Rüdiger Grube said: “I am particularly honoured to be able to act at the highest level of responsibility for European railways as CER Chairman. In close cooperation with all railway companies, small or large ones, we will continue to act in order to speak with one strong single voice, to cooperate in full trust with the EU institutions, and strengthen the rail sector”.

And he said further: “Our objective consists in enabling railways to participate more fully in transport growth all over Europe. Rail can be the transport mode of the 21st century, a reliable, comfortable and climate-friendly transport mode. Rail transport is every day part of the people’s life for many millions of citizens, and an indispensible partner for economy and goods transport. In the future we must take advantage from the opportunities connected with digitalisation and promote innovation. We all share one conviction: in the digital era rail transport has huge perspectives for growth”.

Guillaume Pepy, President of the Board of SNCF, and Andreas Meyer, CEO of Swiss Federal Railways SBB/CFF, were elected CER Vice-Chairmen for the period 2016 and 2017.

UIC warmly congratulates Dr Rüdiger Grube on his election as the new CER Chairman and looks forward to continuing and reinforcing good cooperation between UIC and CER on European issues.

(Sources: Deutsche Bahn DB AG and CER)