Eugenio Prieto

Partner, Madrid, AT Kearney

Biography

Eugenio Prieto is a partner at A.T. Kearney based in Madrid. He led the firm’s European Travel, Transportation and Infrastructure practice for three years, until his appointment in January 2010 as president of A.T. Kearney in Spain and Portugal.

Eugenio’s twenty years of industry and consulting experience span the European continent, with a particular emphasis on helping private transportation operators, public infrastructure managers and government ministries address their major strategic and operational issues.

In Rail, he has developed the strategic plan for a southern European high-speed rail authority, M&A strategies for the freight subsidiary of a major European railways operator and intermodal transportation business strategies for several European freight railways divisions. He has also supported development of the strategic plan for a major Mediterranean port—including design of its business portfolio strategy, as well as the design of a plan to launch a nationwide network of logistics platforms involving both the public and the private sectors.

Eugenio’s industry experience prior to joining A.T. Kearney includes a stint as a member of TNT Spain’s executive board.

Eugenio earned a B.Sc./M.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering from the Madrid Polytechnic University and an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid.

Ignacio Barron

Director of High-Speed, UIC

Biography

FORMATION

1993 – MBA (Development of Managers) at IESE Business School, Madrid
1982 – Civil Engineer (“Caminos, Canales y Puertos”), Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Experience at the International Union of Railways (UIC):

From November 2009, Director of the Passenger Department and Coordinator of Latin America Region of the International Union of Railways.
Among other functions, responsibility on the High Speed Division (which includes the organisation of the annual UIC’s Training on High Speed Systems and the World. Congress on High Speed Rail) and the Stations Division (which includes the organisation of the Congress “Next Station”).
June 2007 – November 2009: Director of High Speed, Metre Gauge and Coordinator of Latin America Region of International Union of Railways.
1997 – June 2007: Senior Advisor in High Speed, UIC Headquarters, Paris, representing Spanish Railways.

Experience at RENFE (Spanish Railways):

1994 – 1997: Manager in major Passenger Stations Division (Madrid Region).
1991 – 1994: Operations Manager in High Speed Stations (Madrid-Atocha).
1990 – 1991: Senior Advisor for South American business Area, at the International Affairs Division.
1990 – 1987: Chief of Technical Studies at the Direction of Communications.
1987 – 1988: Planning and Management Controlling Direction.
1981 – 1987: Commercial Department.

OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

1978 and 1979: Stages in civil engineering works companies.

LANGUAGES

Spanish, French, English

Michel Leboeuf

Head of Major Infrastructure Projects, Passenger Department, SNCF

Biography

Michel Leboeuf (48) is the head of Long Distance Passengers Major Projects Department at SNCF, the French national train operating company, owned by the State. He has been at SNCF since 1972. He is the Chairman of the High Speed Committee at UIC (International Union of Railways) and was the Chairman of the Scientific Committee for the World High Speed Congress in Amsterdam (March 2008).

Responsible for the long term strategy of the train operating company in relationship with new infrastructure projects, he currently deals with traffic forecasts, business cases and funding plans for all the new high speed lines under construction or design in France. He is also meant to propose new infrastructure projects which would fulfil the needs of the French and international markets.

He is also in charge of the research program for high speed trains.

Involved during ten years in design studies on behalf of SYSTRA a consulting company and one of the engineering arms of SNCF, Michel LEBOEUF has got a worldwide experience in implementing high speed rail systems. He has been, in particular, a former chairman of the RLE (Engineering company working as General Manager for design and construction) Board for the CTRL project. He is still an adviser of SYSTRA and is involved in several projects having to do with high speed rail.

Michel Leboeuf is a civil engineeer also graduated in economics.

Prior to his SNCF career his has worked for the CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique).

Giuseppe Sciarrone

Managing Director, NTV

Biography

He has accumulated in his professional activity, noteworthy experience in the field of transportation, especially as regards the management of major transportation enterprises, the management of firms engaged in the design of transportation systems on a European level and the management of public structures for the planning of transportation.

From February 1971 until July 1991 in FIAT Group he was General Director of the Centre for the Study of Transportation Systems.

From August 1991 until July 1993 he was Coordinator of the Technical Office of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Economic Planning of Transport (CIPET).

From August 1993 until September 1998, in State Railway Authority he was Director of the Transportation Area and Director of the PASSENGER Strategic Business Sector.

He is a founding shareholder of the Rail Traction Company (RTC), established in February 2000, when he was Managing Director until June 2008.

He is a founding shareholder and the Managing Director of Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori S.p.A. (NTV), established in December 2006. NTV has received a railway-enterprise license from the Ministry of Transportation, together with authorisation to transport passengers on the Italian railway network. In 2011 NTV will begin carrying passengers on high-speed lines.

Luís Marques

Planning Director, Rave

Biography

2004 - .... - RAVE – Rede Ferroviária de Alta Velocidade, SA - Planning & Contrating Manager and Aveiro-Salamanca HSL Project Manager

• Responsible for planning, cost control and contracting in the development of management process, coordination and planning process of the high-speed railway network in portugal.
• Responsible for the coordination of the project for the high-speed railway line aveiro-salamanca, between aveiro and the border, vilar formoso.
• Responsible in rave, in collaboration with lnec (national civil engineering laboratory), for the netlipse project - .”Network for the dissemination of knowledge on the management of large infrasetructure projects in europe”.

1999- 2004 - Transgás Atlântico - Sociedade Portuguesa De Gás Natural Liquefeito, Sa - Technical Manager

• Responsible for the coordination of the multidisciplinary technical team, responsible for the follow-up of the engineering, procurement and construction of the terminal of liquefied natural gas of sines.
• Responsible for all contacts with authorities and official entities and for the terminal licensing (including the licensing for the power supply).
• Collaboration in the preparation and development of the process of international tender for the epc contract of the terminal.

1997-1999 - exergia - projectos de engenharia, sa - technical manager

• Participation and coordination of several engineering projects for the gas industry (namely the coordination of the projects for the primary gas networks of the companies tagusgás and beiragás) and communications industry (among others, the portuguese service mail-ctt).
• Accomplishment of several studies of value engineering for cost optimisation and project performance.
• Collaboration in the accomplishment of several technical auditing (among others, the j.a.e. (portuguese road company)).

1994-1997 - transgás - sociedade portuguesa de gás natural, sa - engineering manager

• Coordination of the engineering activities for the implantation of the national net of transportation natural gas in high pressure, namely in the construction of the gas pipelines setúbal-leiria, leiria-braga, campo maior-leiria and braga-tuy, industrial branch lines and gas reduction and metering stations (grms).
• Coordination of the accomplishment of the tender documents (instruction to bidders and technical documents) for the conception/ construction contract of the technical and administrative centre in bucelas-loures and the operation and maintenance centre in pombal.

1987-1994 - profabril - centro de projectos, sa - main technical designer – head of department of control and instrumentation

• Coordination and participation in several projects and works of automation and industrial control, in the development of the basic and detail engineering, in the supervision of the construction/erection, dry and running tests and in the commissioning and start-up of industrial facilities.

1985-1987 - sapec - produits et engrais chimiques du portugal, sa - technical designer

• Elaboration of the Master Plan and Process Diagrams for Industrial Plants

Paul Broekhuizen

CT Head, Railways, Nokia Siemens Networks

Biography

Paul is 40 years old and married and is having a boy and girl.

Paul has a degree in Business Administration and is working for over 15 years in the Communication Business in different functions.

Paul started in 1999 with Siemens Communications as sales manager and was looking after KPN, the incummbant telco,

From 2001 till end 2009 he started as director in a Joint Venture between Siemens and KPN called "MobiRail" MobiRail is acting on behalf of ProRail to build, operate and maintain the Dutch GSM-R network.

In 2007 the JV between Nokia and Siemens was effective and Paul started in the new organization as Head of Railways West Europe and looking after the railway companies in Germany, Luxumbourg, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands and France.

Professor Andrew McNaughton

Chief Engineer, High Speed Two

Biography

Andrew McNaughton is Chief Engineer of High Speed Two, the company established in February 2009 to develop high speed rail in Great Britain. He is also Special Professor of Rail Engineering at Nottingham University.

Andrew has been engaged in railway engineering and management since 1973. His first twenty years in British Rail were engaged in maintenance, renewal and upgrade work including leading rebuilding Kent’s railways for the first decade of Channel tunnel operation. In 1993 he joined Railtrack, becoming Head of Production and subsequently Director, Great Western. From 2001, as Chief Engineer, Network Rail, he led the recovery of the GB rail network, re-creating a professional engineering function of all disciplines including human performance.

Andrew is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers. In Europe he is Vice Chairman of the EU Transport Advisory Group, and Chairman of both the International Railway Union’s Infrastructure Commission and the European Rail Research Advisory Council.

Jim Earp

Chair, California Transportation Commission

Biography

Mr. Earp was appointed to the CTC by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on February 15 and took office on March 1,2007. He is Executive Director of the California Alliance for Jobs, a business labor partnership. Earp was hired to direct the California Alliance for Jobs in 1998 after serving as a Board Member since the organization’s inception in 1994. Under his leadership, the Alliance has become a strong advocate for transportation investment, solving the state’s housing shortage, meeting California’s water needs and other issues that impact California’s economy and the construction industry.

In 2006, Earp launched an initiative campaign to increase protection for Prop. 42 funding. At the same time, he worked closely with the Governor’s administration, Senate President pro Tem Don Perata and other legislators in crafting the historic bipartisan legislation that became Propositions 1A through 1E, which created $37 billion in infrastructure bonds and dedicated $1.5 billion a year in gasoline sales tax revenue to transportation. Earp subsequently chaired the Yes on 1A-1E campaign, which was successful in passing all five measures on Nov. 7, 2006.

Matthew Arndt

Head of Division - Rail & Road, Projects Directorate, European Investment Bank

Biography

Mr Arndt, a former consultant, has more than 20 yrs experience in the transport sector around the world with a focus on rail, road and urban projects. In 2006, he took over the management of the EIB's Rail and Road division within the Projects Directorate, which handles appraisal and monitoring of all projects in those sub-sectors, as well as the definition of the Bank's strategy in the sector. Before that, he was in charge of the technical and economic aspects of a portfolio of EIB transport projects as an engineer and economist, more specifically in charge of transport investments related to the Bank's mandates outside the EU.

Vanda Nogueira

Principal, Iberia, AT Kearney

Biography

Vanda Nogueira is a principal at A.T. Kearney based in Lisbon. She is a member of the firm’s European Travel, Transportation and Infrastructure practice, where she has specialized for the last twelve years in strategic planning, partnerships & alliances, market strategy and organizational design.

In Rail, Vanda has participated in developing the strategic plan for a southern European high-speed rail authority, designing the strategic plan for the spin-off of the cargo unit of a railway operator, and analyzing a joint venture between two main rail operators in Europe. She has also taken part in developing the strategic plan for Portugal’s freight villages network, designing the private participation model for the construction and management of a new European airport, and exploring alternative sources of financing for a European public mass transportation authority.

Vanda earned a B.Sc./M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Técnico and an MBA from Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Michel Jadot

Directeur Général, SNCB Europe

Biography

Titles

Marketer of the Year 2000 (Foundation Marketing)

Ambassador of Brussels-Capital Region Tourist Board (1998)

Experience

Since June 2006: SNCB Europe, Directeur Général

• Member of the SNCB Comex
• Chairman of the Thalys International Board
• Co-Chairman of the Fyra Steering Committee (Brussels-Amsterdam)
• Non Executive Director of the Eurostar Group Ltd Board

Previous Jobs

From April 2003 until May 2006: SNCB - Direction Passengers (national & cross-border short distance traffic) - General Manager

• SNCB representative for discussion with the labour unions on Passenger topics
• Board Member Tourist Board for Wallonia-Brussels Community

From 1995 until March 2003: Thalys International (ex Westrail International until 1999), Directeur Général Adjoint

• Vice-President of the Thalys Executive Committee

1994: SNCB - Thalys project - International Product Management (IPM) - Commercial Manager

1992 – 1994: SNCB - Passengers Department (Eurostar & Thalys projects) - Head of the Division TGV (high speed trains)

• SNCB representative to the UIC Commission (high speed trains)

January 1993: Transurb Consult: on behalf of the Ministry of Transports

European Bank of Development - Lithuania (Vilnius) - Marketing trainer

1990 - 1992: SNCB - Passengers Department (promotion, tourism and real estate) - Head of Division

1989 - 1991: Transurb Consult:

World Bank Project - Indonesia (Bandung)

Head of Marketing & Sales (Passenger and Freight)

1988 - 1990: SNCB - Commercial Direction - Freight Division

Head of the European Sales Market (chemicals & fertilizers)

Andrew Sharp

Director General, International Air Rail Organisation

Biography

Mr. Sharp has over 30 years experience in the transportation industry - mainly the rail industry in the UK. He is currently Director-General of the International Air Rail Organisation, a world-wide group of organisations across the air and rail industry with an interest in rail links to airports.

He has undertaken consultancy work for a number of companies interested in airport rail connections, and has also been retained by Heathrow Express as a consultant.

He has a Masters degree in Transportation and Traffic Planning from the University of Birmingham, and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

He is a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Intermodal Transfer Facilities and their Aviation Sustainability Sub-Committee, and the Aviation Forum of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

He is married with two children, and lives in St. Albans, the historic city 20 miles north of London where he was born.

Andy Meany

Managing Consultant, Oxera

Biography

Andrew is head of Oxera’s Transport team and specialises in the economics of the sector, focusing particularly on public transport. In the rail industry, Andrew has managed projects employing innovative modelling techniques to advance the state of the art in demand forecasting. In the bus industry, Andrew has advised a wide range of clients on the implications of new legislation for their operations, and has used his understanding of the core economics of the industry to advise clients on competition issues. More widely in the transport sector, he has authored a number of influential reports analysing policy developments. He is course director of Oxera's popular Utility finance and Utility regulation courses.

Michael Robson

Secretary General, EIM

Biography

Michael Robson, Secretary General of the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), is a time-served railwayman having been in the industry for 35 years. During this time he has held various senior positions. He has experienced of working in an integrated railway, British Rail, a private stock market listed infrastructure company, Railtrack, and a company limited by guarantee and privately financed, Network Rail.

Working in these three different environments has given him a unique insight into railway structures there complexities and cultures. During his career, he has been involved in Operations, Performance, Timetabling, and Contract Management, Passenger and Freight Marketing and other retail activities in addition to the usual General Management and Project activities.

His previous post, prior to taking over as the EIM Secretary General, was as the Head of European Affairs for Network Rail where he was responsible for developing and implementing the Network Rail policy on European issues.

He sees his current role as promoting the railway, and in particular the interests of infrastructure managers, at all European levels including interfacing with the European Commission, Council of Ministers and MEPs. The other key role consists in ensuring that the EIM views are heard in the European Railway Agency (ERA) discussions on TSI development and in other standardisation bodies involved in this area.

Michael is married with one daughter. His hobbies include walking, gardening, travel, and good food and wine. Michael is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport & Logistics and the Institute of Management

Victorino Pérez Fernãndez

Director of European Affairs, RENFE

Biography

Mr. Pérez has an MBA by the University Institute of MBA of ICADE and has a Master in Financial Management by the Instituto de Empresa.

He started in Renfe in 1990 as a Chief of Management Control and Budget in the Freight area, where he worked in different relevant positions until 2001.

He also worked as "Chargé de Mission" in UIC in Paris between 2001 – 2003. He later on went back to Renfe as International Manager of Medium and Long Distance Lines (“Grandes Líneas”), working in the international passengers area until he recently was appointed Director of European Affairs in Renfe in February 2010, reporting to the International Director.

Barbara Dalibard

Chief Executive, Long Distance Passenger Services, SNCF

Biography

Barbara Dalibard is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, a graduate of competitive maths agregation and holds a Master in Mathematics and a diploma from the Ecole nationale supérieure des télécommunications (1982).

1982 to 2009:

Barbara Dalibard started her career in 1982 within France Telecom, where she held differents positions from technical management to marketing for the business market. In 1998, she joined Alcanet International S.A.S., a subsidiary of the Alcatel Group, as President, moving to Alcatel CIT in 1999 as sales director for France. In early 2001, she returned to the France Telecom group to become Director of the Business Market for Orange France, and Vice-President of Orange Business in charge of the business market for the entire Orange group.

In January 2003, Barbara Dalibard is appointed Executive Vice President of the Corporate Solutions Division. In April 2004, she becomes Executive Vice President of the Enterprise Communication Services Division. In August 2005, she is appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Equant. In June 2006, all of France Telecom business activities are rebranded into Orange Business Services. In these roles, Barbara Dalibard manages the development and marketing of business communications services for the overall business market (small, medium-size, large and multinational corporations in France and internationally) and sales to corporates and multinationals.

January 2010 – Present:

Barbara Dalibard has joined SNCF as Managing Director of SNCF Voyages.

She also is a member of the General Management Board of SNCF and President of voyages-sncf.com.

SNCF Voyages is the leading player in Europe in high-speed trains, and long-haul railway services, and includes the following brands: TGV, Teoz, iDTGV, Eurostar, Thalys, TGV Lyria, Elipsos, Artesia.

In line with the company's policy to offer customers "end-to-end" travel facilities, Barbara Dalibard manages the sales, distribution and commercial service on board the trains, as well as several subsidiaries, including voyages-sncf.com.

With a fleet of 475 trainsets, SNCF Voyages handles 130 million passengers a year, with total sales of €7.4 billion, of which 20% on the international market.

Assignments as Director:

Member of the Supervisory Board of Michelin

Member of the Board of Directors of Wolters Kluwer (NV)

Luisa Cecilia Velardi

Director of Strategy, Trenitalia

Biography

Luisa Velardi, Italian Railways, is the Director of the Strategy Department of Trenitalia, the operating company of the Ferrovie dello Stato Group. Graduate as Transport Engineer at the Milan Polytechnic, Luisa Velardi experienced different activities during her career always in the field of transport. She worked at the Public Transport (Urban and Regional) Companies of Milan and Rome, at the Italian Railways as well as at the World Bank. She began as a consultant in the field of transport planning and design for public and private transport companies, prior to joining (1986) the planning department of the Milan Urban Transport Company (ATM). In 1991, she joined FS (Italian State Railway Company), where she worked in the Transport Strategy, Planning and Control Department. In this role, she participated in the most important phases of the FS restructuring and privatization process and collaborated on the preparation of the business plan for the conversion of FS to a joint-stock company. During this period she was also seconded to the Rome Public Transport Companies ATAC and COTRAL where she worked as Planning Service Manager (1994 to 1995) and to the Italian Ministry of Transport where she served as Head of Service Planning for 16 Railway Franchise Companies (1997 to 1999). From 1999 to 2002 she was Co-Director for the Centre-North of Italy of the FS Regional Transport Division. In 2002 she joined the World Bank, based in Washington, as Senior Transport Specialist, where she participated in various projects in Africa and East and Central Europe.

In 2004 she returned to FS and was appointed Executive Assistant to the Chairman and CEO. Subsequently she was appointed Vice Director of Regional Transport in Trenitalia, the railway undertaking of the FS Group. Head of the Strategy Department since November 2006 she deals also with international issues and represents the company in several European and international bodies. Appointed also Chairman of SITA S.p.A. in December 2007, a company of the FS Group for regional bus services, since December 2008 she is also Chairman of ARTESIA S.p.A. a rail commercial company 50% owned by Trenitalia and 50% by SNCF, in charge of all the international rail links between Italy and France.

Wouter Radstake

Senior VP Land Transport Research, DVB Bank

Biography

Between 1989 and 1995 Wouter Radstake studied Technical Business Administration and Science of Public Administration at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, with the specializations Civil Engineering and Transportation. One thesis covered a set up how to organize the admission procedure for new railway companies in the Netherlands on behalf of ProRail and the Dutch Ministry of Transport. In 1994 Mr. Radstake started his working live as co-owner and managing director of courier company Ritzen Koeriers Twente v.o.f. which used the fact that students got an almost free pass to use the train. But rail forms the thread in his later working life as well. Mr. Radstake was involved in the establishment of Lovers Rail B.V. (1995; the first rail passenger competitor of the Dutch Nederlandse Spoorwegen in the Netherlands since 1917, now part of Veolia Transport), ShortLines B.V. (1995-2001, now part of Veolia Transport) and ERS Railways B.V. (2001-2005, now fully A.P. M¢ller owned). In 2005 and 2006 he was Senior Economist Rail at the Dutch Rail Regulator Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit, working on topics of capacity allocation and infrastructure charges.

Since 2006 Mr. Radstake keeps track of market developments which influence the market outlook and values of land transport assets in Europe and North-America in his position as Senior Vice President Land Transport Research at the leading specialized international transport finance bank DVB Bank. This task consists of amongst others independent analysis of the global and regional economy forecasts, transported commodities, rail and road volumes, raw material and fuel prices, fair market values, innovations, development of the European rail liberalization and rolling stock orders. On top of that, some M&A advisory work is done for key clients.

Diane Bouzebiba

Head of Rail Business Unit, Amadeus

Biography

Head of the Amadeus Rail Business Unit since September 2007, Diane has held several Senior Manager positions over her seven years with Amadeus IT Group and brings her wide experience to the Rail area in this critical growth period. Immediately prior to joining Amadeus, Diane was Commercial Director of a software consultancy company, providing business-enhancing IT solutions to global customers.

A British national, Diane holds a BA(Hons) in Management Science from the University of Lancaster (UK), and a post graduate diploma from University of Manchester (UK).

Keith Bastow

Director, New Business Development, Arriva

Biography

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Keith is a career transport professional having started in the public transport sector in 1966.

The first part of his career was spent in the municipal bus sector where he rose to the position of CEO of one of the largest municipal companies. Following the de-regulation of the bus sector in the UK in the 1980s he successfully steered that company, which previously was in receipt of the largest subsidy in the municipal sector, through” privatisation” . In the early 1990s he also entered the European Market with operations in France and the Netherlands.

In 1992 he joined British Bus plc which at the time was the largest of the emerging privately-owned public transport groups. Following the acquisition of British Bus by Arriva plc he has held a number of development roles and today is Director New Business Development.

Keith played a central role in the development of Arriva’s European Strategy and in positioning it as a leading transport services organisation.

His experience is multi-modal covering bus, rail and intermediate/rapid transit.

Michael Robson

Secretary General, EIM

Biography

Michael Robson, Secretary General of the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), is a time-served railwayman having been in the industry for 35 years. During this time he has held various senior positions. He has experienced of working in an integrated railway, British Rail, a private stock market listed infrastructure company, Railtrack, and a company limited by guarantee and privately financed, Network Rail.

Working in these three different environments has given him a unique insight into railway structures there complexities and cultures. During his career, he has been involved in Operations, Performance, Timetabling, and Contract Management, Passenger and Freight Marketing and other retail activities in addition to the usual General Management and Project activities.

His previous post, prior to taking over as the EIM Secretary General, was as the Head of European Affairs for Network Rail where he was responsible for developing and implementing the Network Rail policy on European issues.

He sees his current role as promoting the railway, and in particular the interests of infrastructure managers, at all European levels including interfacing with the European Commission, Council of Ministers and MEPs. The other key role consists in ensuring that the EIM views are heard in the European Railway Agency (ERA) discussions on TSI development and in other standardisation bodies involved in this area.

Michael is married with one daughter. His hobbies include walking, gardening, travel, and good food and wine. Michael is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport & Logistics and the Institute of Management

Karsten Otte

Head of Rail Regulation, Federal Network Agency

Biography

After teaching in Leipzig, Heidelberg, Munich and Frankfurt, Prof. Dr. Karsten Otte held since 2001 the Chair of European Transport and Traffic Law, Civil Law, Private International and Procedural Law at the University of Mannheim and was Director of the Institute for Inland Navigation in Mannheim. There, he still is affiliated with the Research Center of Transport and Traffic Law. Since October 2006 he is Director of the Federal Network Regulatory Agency, there Head of the Railway Regulation Department with a staff of 50.

Brian Kogan

Deputy Director Railway Markets & Economics, Office Rail Regulation (ORR)

Biography

Brian Kogan has worked in a range of different roles at the Office of Rail Regulation since 1997. Currently, his responsibilities include the consideration and approval of access applications for both passenger and freight services on the British railway network. In addition, he has been instrumental in the implementation of a number of changes to the structure of track access contracts designed to facilitate competition on the railway network.

Brian Kogan studied at Oxford University and later completed an MBA at Brunel University. His early career was as a manager in the British coal industry. Subsequently he became a policy administrator at the Department of the Environment before moving to the Office of Rail Regulation.

Karsten Otte

Head of Rail Regulation, Federal Network Agency

Biography

After teaching in Leipzig, Heidelberg, Munich and Frankfurt, Prof. Dr. Karsten Otte held since 2001 the Chair of European Transport and Traffic Law, Civil Law, Private International and Procedural Law at the University of Mannheim and was Director of the Institute for Inland Navigation in Mannheim. There, he still is affiliated with the Research Center of Transport and Traffic Law. Since October 2006 he is Director of the Federal Network Regulatory Agency, there Head of the Railway Regulation Department with a staff of 50.

Michael Robson

Secretary General, EIM

Biography

Michael Robson, Secretary General of the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM), is a time-served railwayman having been in the industry for 35 years. During this time he has held various senior positions. He has experienced of working in an integrated railway, British Rail, a private stock market listed infrastructure company, Railtrack, and a company limited by guarantee and privately financed, Network Rail.

Working in these three different environments has given him a unique insight into railway structures there complexities and cultures. During his career, he has been involved in Operations, Performance, Timetabling, and Contract Management, Passenger and Freight Marketing and other retail activities in addition to the usual General Management and Project activities.

His previous post, prior to taking over as the EIM Secretary General, was as the Head of European Affairs for Network Rail where he was responsible for developing and implementing the Network Rail policy on European issues.

He sees his current role as promoting the railway, and in particular the interests of infrastructure managers, at all European levels including interfacing with the European Commission, Council of Ministers and MEPs. The other key role consists in ensuring that the EIM views are heard in the European Railway Agency (ERA) discussions on TSI development and in other standardisation bodies involved in this area.

Michael is married with one daughter. His hobbies include walking, gardening, travel, and good food and wine. Michael is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport & Logistics and the Institute of Management

Brian Kogan

Deputy Director Railway Markets & Economics, Office Rail Regulation (ORR)

Biography

Brian Kogan has worked in a range of different roles at the Office of Rail Regulation since 1997. Currently, his responsibilities include the consideration and approval of access applications for both passenger and freight services on the British railway network. In addition, he has been instrumental in the implementation of a number of changes to the structure of track access contracts designed to facilitate competition on the railway network.

Brian Kogan studied at Oxford University and later completed an MBA at Brunel University. His early career was as a manager in the British coal industry. Subsequently he became a policy administrator at the Department of the Environment before moving to the Office of Rail Regulation.

Xavier Massa

Operations Director, Enterprise, Spain, Cisco

Biography

Xavier Massa is Cisco’s Operations Director for the Enterprise business in Spain. His responsibilities include the positioning of business and technical architectures which support all forms of information technology and communications converging into the network, in order to facilitate sustainable growth, enable new business models and fuel innovation for our customers.

Since joining Cisco in 2000, Xavier has lead the sales and development teams of various market segments in Spain, including Small and Medium Businesses, Mid Market, Enterprise and Multinationals.

Xavier has considerable experience in the information technology industry. Before joining Cisco, he spent more than 11 years at a leading network systems integrator in Spain, most recently in the role of Sales Manager.

He holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Alcalá de Henares University and an MBA from EAE Business School. He is married and has a son and a daughter.

John M Walker

Chief Procurement and Supply Chain Officer, Swiss Federal Railway

Biography

John M Walker joined the Swiss Federal Railways as CPO in April 2009 and is responsible for Purchasing, Supply Chain Management and Infrastructure Manufacturing.

Prior to joining SBB, Walker was Head of Global Supply Chain Management at ABB in Zurich from 2004-2009. His experience also included a stint with Faurecia, a Paris-based automotive supplier, pursuant to their spin-off from PSA (Peugeot Citroën) in 2000. There he led purchasing and procurement for two of the four business groups.

In the late 1990s Walker was head of electrical and electronics supplier management for Ford Motor Company’s North American Car and Truck product development centers. Prior to Ford he held a variety of management positions with electronics manufacturer AMP in Europe during the late eighties and early nineties.

Walker holds an MBA and an MSc. from Carnegie Mellon University as well as a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Prior to his university studies John served four years in the United States Army as a Ranger and tank platoon sergeant along the former borders of the Warsaw Pact (Eastern Germany and Czechoslovakia).

Nick Watson

Vice President, Strategic Accounts and Global Enterprise Theater, Cisco

Biography

Nick Watson is Vice President of the Cisco 3.0 & Enterprise Segment in European Markets. In his dual leadership role, Nick is responsible for Cisco’s Enterprise business within European Markets as well as worldwide business for a defined set of global accounts within the newly formed, Global Enterprise Theatre (GET).

For the past two years, Nick has been leading a pilot initiative - “Cisco 3.0”, chartered to fundamentally transform the way we engage with our customers and to deliver the next generation of customer relationships within the Enterprise segment across Europe. The Global Enterprise Theatre is a client-focused organisation aligned to key industry segments for all aspects of Cisco’s business.

Nick and his Enterprise Segment team are responsible for scaling the Global 3.0 initiative across Europe whilst also providing industry expertise and solutions in close collaboration with local account teams, to meet the business objectives of enterprise customers within Europe. The focus vertical industries are Financial Services, Sports and Entertainment, Manufacturing, Energy, Retail, Transportation and Utilities, including Smart Grid.

Nick joined Cisco in 1995 and has held senior management positions in Channels, Marketing, Commercial and Sales. Nick has more than 27 years experience in the Information & Communications Technology industry, with 20 of those years spent specifically focused on global business. Prior to Cisco, Nick spent many years with Motorola and Timeplex.

Nick lives with his wife, two teenage children and Newfoundland dog in Surrey.

Michel Croc

Regional Director, Réseau Ferré de France

Biography

Michel Croc has developed his career in major international infrastructure projects. Firstly in Algeria he participated in the design and construction of the new port of Arzew. Then in the new works department of the Paris Airports Authority (Aéroport de Paris), he was particularly responsible for the new airport at Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. He was also in charge of the design and construction of the Marseilles metro, and it was in this capacity that he engaged in technical exchanges with the Montreal, Mexico, Caracas and Algiers metro authorities.

From July 2004 to October 2009, he was head of the Provence-Alps-Riviera Regional Division of Réseau Ferré de France. Here he was in charge of infrastructure upgrading and development, the management of the railway network in the Marseilles area and the French Riviera, and the new high speed line project between Marseilles and Italy.

He is currently responsible for increasing the presence of RFF in the countries who wish to benefit from RFF’s experience of new and incremental HSR projects.

Robert Tasiaux

Partner, AT Kearney

Biography

Robert Tasiaux is a Partner at A.T Kearney, based in Brussels. He joined A.T. Kearney in September 1988 in the Firm’s Chicago headquarters and relocated to Singapore in 1991 and Hong Kong in 1992, responsible for Greater China (Hong Kong and Beijing) from 1995 to 1997. He now leads the Northern European Transportation practice.

His focus on the transportation industry includes rail, public transit, air, shipping, logistics, trucking and express. The scope of his work encompasses corporate strategy, restructuring, acquisitions and divestitures, operations improvement, marketing and feasibility studies.

In Rail, he has supported carriers and infrastructure owners in the area of European strategy, planning & control, new infrastructure feasibility studies, stations strategy, opportunity assessments (new entrants), and the preparation to liberalization. He is also supporting rail equipment manufacturers and leasing companies in market assessments, entry strategy and restructuring.

Prior to consulting, Robert Tasiaux worked in the financial services industry, lastly with Citibank in Europe. He has an MBA from Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management) and sits on the Kellogg School’s European Advisory Council.

Walter Schultze Freyberg

Managing Director, Polzug

Biography

Walter Schulze-Freyberg has more than 35 years professional experience in the transport sector, during which he acquired detailed knowhow of the market for intermodal transportation, both as customers as well as operator of intermodal services. He started his career in 1981 with Deutsche Babcock Group as logistics expert for the set-up of plants world-wide, before he joined HPC Hamburg Port Consulting, for which he worked as Senior Transport Expert and Team Leader in international transport projects.

One of these projects concerned in 1991 the elaboration of a feasibility study and business plan for a container block train from Hamburg Port to Poland. Walter was assigned to implement this project and became Managing Director of the newly founded Polzug Poland-Hamburg Transport GmbH (today POLZUG Intermodal GmbH). In 18 years he developed the company from a small rail operator with one weekly train pair between Hamburg and Poland to a medium-sized transport operator with 30 weekly train pairs connecting Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Rotterdam to the markets in Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia.

Alan Gibson

Managing Director, ERS Railways

Biography

Alan J. Gibson has been Managing Director of ERS Railways since February 2007, during which period the company has expanded impressively on its main corridors and initiated services in Scandinavia.

Formerly Director Area Operations with Maersk Line, he has also held various senior positions in finance, strategic planning, infrastructure development and operations in Sea-Land Service and APM Terminals.

Alan currently resides in the Netherlands with his wife & four children.

Patrick Jeantet

Executive Vice-President, International, Keolis

Biography

Patrick joined Keolis as Executive Vice President International in 2005. Since then he has overseen the company’s continuous international growth, making a major contribution to the overall results of the Keolis group: the revenue of Keolis’ international activities has increased from 23% of the group’s total turnover in 2005 to 44% in 2008. Under Patrick’s leadership, Keolis has become the major shareholder in most of its international subsidiaries (Germany, Netherlands and Denmark) and has increased its market share by acquiring local companies (Belgium) and winning major public transport contracts (UK, Germany, Sweden).

Patrick spent most of his career working abroad, in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. He started his career working for Bouygues and Sogea (Vinci Group), two of the world's leading construction groups. His experience includes working on several railway projects, such as the construction of underground tunnels and a new railway station in Paris.

In 1997 he joined International Water, a company specialised in the development, financing and operation of water and wastewater projects, owned by Bechtel (the US engineering, construction, and project management group) and United Utilities, later replaced by Edison, the second largest energy company in Italy. There, he held the position of Chief Operating Officer of the company’s largest subsidiary, the Manila Water Company (Philippines) and then took on the role of Chief Operating Officer of the group. As such he negotiated concessions, BOT and public private partnership contracts.

Patrick brings with him a wealth of experience working with professionals in various geographical and cultural environments, including Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. He has significant experience in managing projects, leading teams and negotiating contracts, as well as leading strategic business development, re-engineering and managing companies and turning shareholders’ goals into actions and results. Additionally, he has extensive knowledge of negotiating with public authorities.

Patrick holds engineering degrees from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, as well as a MBA from CPA, a Paris based business school.

Patrick Hoenninger

Link Project Coordinator, ILS Research

Biography

Patrick Hoenninger (1971), studied at Technical University Dortmund (Faculty of Spatial Planning) and Ecole d’Architecture Montpellier; about 10 years of transport consultancy and research in the transport sector (unimodal and cross-modal concepts for regional bodies, national ministries, EU); researcher at ILS institute since 2007 (project coordinator of ‘LINK - the European Forum on Intermodal Passenger Travel’).

James Wright

Sustainable Development Manager, Virgin Trains

Biography

James has been Sustainable Development Manager for Virgin Trains for the past two years, during which he has been responsible for the formation of Virgin Trains’ Sustainable Development strategy, carbon reduction programme and the production of Virgin Trains’ first Corporate Responsibility report.

Since joining Virgin Trains in 2001 James has undertaken varying roles within the rail industry, contributing to projects across the Virgin Group of companies and the rail industry as a whole. Prior to joining, James completed a BEng in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Birmingham and a Diploma in Management at the Open University.

James continues to focus his efforts in the field of sustainable business and is currently leading projects involving low-carbon travel to and from stations and cycle-rail initiatives.

Paul Wiersma

Business Development Manager, Railwind Project, ProRail

Biography

Education

Mechanical Engineering, Twente Technical University

Experience

After working for NedTrain, specialized in train maintenance, and for NS, Dutch Railways, Paul Wiersma joined ProRail in 2006. Since then he has mainly focused on new lightrail developments in the Netherlands. Now he is looking into the possibilities of Railwind in the Netherlands.

The company

ProRail acts on behalf of the Dutch Minister of Transport as the railway infrastructure manager in The Netherlands. Within the organization the small department “Strategy and Business Development” operates as a staff unit. Strategy and Business Development initiates and develops projects contributing to the overall ambitions and objectives of the company and its shareholder. Sustainability is regarded as a major topic for ProRail and therefore a programme has been set up to launch and coordinate several projects in this field. One of these projects is Railwind, a concept aiming at creating a carbon neutral railway system by generating sustainable energy. This would provide the railway industry a new competitive advantage as a form of transport with a net zero carbon footprint.

Jeroen Wiercx

Business Development Manager, Railwind Project, ProRail

Biography

Education

Business Administration, Groningen University

Experience

After graduation Jeroen Wiercx has been active as a consultant in the field of transport and logistics. In 2006 he joined the department Strategy and Business Development of ProRail to develop and stimulate multimodal transfer points, light rail solutions and sustainable energy generation.

The company

ProRail acts on behalf of the Dutch Minister of Transport as the railway infrastructure manager in The Netherlands. Within the organization the small department “Strategy and Business Development” operates as a staff unit. Strategy and Business Development initiates and develops projects contributing to the overall ambitions and objectives of the company and its shareholder. Sustainability is regarded as a major topic for ProRail and therefore a programme has been set up to launch and coordinate several projects in this field. One of these projects is Railwind, a concept aiming at creating a carbon neutral railway system by generating sustainable energy. This would provide the railway industry a new competitive advantage as a form of transport with a net zero carbon footprint.

Luke Ervine

Environmental Manager, Eurostar

Biography

Since leaving University with a degree in Environmental Science, I have worked for a number of large companies such as Experian, Eon and Eurostar in a mix of data and business analyst roles.

In August 2007 I became the Environment Manager for Eurostar after providing internal environmental consultancy to Eurostar when the Tread Lightly programme was being developed.

My recent return to the field of Environmental Sciences is reflective of an increased demand for Environmental Managers which, in turn, is symptomatic of a sea change in the way that companies are starting to approach the subject, acknowledging that good business practice involves a strong environmental policy which can help save money at the same time as reducing the businesses environmental footprint.