Mr Paul Godart began his career in 1978 as a young civil engineer at SNCB. At the time, SNCB was the only railway company in Belgium, operating both as a transport company (now SNCB) and infrastructure manager (now Infrabel). Paul gained his first experience of the railways in the domain of bridge and tunnel maintenance and renewal in southwest Belgium.

In the 1980s, Paul made a move to the company’s Track department, where mechanisation of track maintenance and renewal was in full swing, with new requirements for track components. In his role as Manager of the Track Studies division, he gained experience in all aspects of tracks and switches, and made a significant contribution to the development of high-speed lines in Belgium.

In 2002, Paul took over responsibility for the entire Track and Structures department. He became Deputy Director at Infrabel in 2011, and his responsibilities were extended in 2014 to include catenary as Head of the Linear Assets department.

Paul has always been conscious that the world of railway engineering is a small one, and that international contacts are very important, particularly in a small country. It is for this reason that he participated as an expert in several CEN, UIC and EIM working groups. He made a particular contribution to the UIC Track Expert Group (TEG), first as an expert and subsequently as Secretary under the chairmanship of Mr André Le Bihan of SNCF. He took over the chairmanship of the TEG in 2006.

After more than 13 years as chairman of the TEG, he will pass the torch to Bernhard Knoll from ÖBB at the head of TEG and will go into retirement in April 2020.

UIC wants to express its gratitude for Paul’s contribution to TEG and wishes Paul a good and healthy future.

(Source: Infrabel)