Following the merger of Kowloon - Canton Railway and MTR Corp with effect from December 2, Raymond Ch'ien Kuo-fung will be Non-Executive Chairman of the combined company and C K Chow will be Chief Executive Officer. Lincoln Leong is Finance Director, Andrew McCusker becomes Operations Director and Li Yun-tai (formerly Senior Director of Transport at KCRC) Deputy Operations Director. Russell Black is named Project Director, and Lee Kang-kuen (formerly Senior Director of Capital Projects at KCRC) Deputy Project Director. Leonard Turk is Legal Director & Secretary supported by his deputy David Fleming (formerly KCRC Secretary), Thomas Ho is Property Director; William Chan Human Resources Director; and Francis Lung, China & International Business Director. KCRC Director of Property Daniel Lam is leaving.
Yitzhak Harel was appointed General Manager of Israel Railways with effect from November 1. He was previously Chairman of the National Roads Company.
Christian Philip has succeeded Jean-Marie Bockel as Chairman of the French Railway Industry Association.
The general assembly held in Buenos Aires on September 6 elected a new executive committee for UITP's Latin American division, with Victor Raúl Martinez of Colombia succeeding Jurandir Fernandes as Chairman.
Kansas City Southern has announced three promotions, with Jeff M Crandall moving from Assistant Vice-President, International Engineering, to Vice-President, Transportation; Carl Harrison from Assistant Vice-President, Technology & Business Solutions, to Vice-President, IT & Telecommunications; and James Koelper from Director to Assistant Vice-President, Telecommunications.
The senior management team at London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (p750) is headed by Managing Director Steve Murphy, the former managing Director of Chiltern Railways who has been on secondment as General Manager of Iarnród Éireann since 2004. Rob Brighouse is Deputy Managing Director; Catherine Noah, Human Resources Director; Peter Daw, Fleet Director; Peter Austin, Finance Director; Claire Brown, Customer Services Director and Perry Ramsey, Operations Director.
Susan Kupferman has been named Chief Operating Officer at New York MTA. She has served in an acting capacity for 10 months, and prior to that was President of MTA Bridges & Tunnels and director of Mayor Michael R Bloomberg's office of operations.
Barnard Guillelmon is to become Director of Swiss rail operator BLS AG with the retirement of Mathias Tromp at the end of June 2008.
John Giles was named President & CEO of Florida East Coast Railway by parent company Fortress Investment Group on November 8. He is also President & CEO of RailAmerica. David J Rohal is Vice-President of FEC, while former FEC President John McPherson is to retire following completion of the leadership change.
On November 15 National Express Group announced that Julian Drury would become Managing Director of its c2c and Gatwick Express franchises in the UK when current Managing Director Mark Hopwood leaves NEG on January 27 to become Route Director, High Speed, at First Great Western.
Keith Parker has been appointed CEO of the Charlotte Area Transit System, replacing Ron Tober who retires on December 21 after eight years in the post. Parker is currently Charlotte's Assistant City Manager but was previously Chief Operating Officer at CATS.
Pierre-François Gouiffes has been appointed Deputy Director General, Finance, at Transdev. He was formerly Deputy Director of the office of Jean-Louis Borloo when he was French Employment Minister.
Greg Holt has taken over from John Sutton as Chief Executive of VicTrack, the organisation which manages rail infrastructure in the Australian state of Victoria.
Michael R Wiley has been appointed Interim General Manager & CEO of the Sacramento Regional Transit District, replacing Dr Beverly A Scott who has accepted a position as General Manager of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.
Paul Victor has been promoted to President of New York & Atlantic Railway. He was previously General Superintendent at the 430 km short line, which provides rail freight services in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn and on Long Island. Joel Torres was promoted from Director of Marketing to Chief Transportation & Commercial Officer, and Mark Westerfield was appointed Mechanical Superintendent.
André Ohnheiser has taken up the post of Director, Europe, at Systra. He joins the consultancy from SNCF where he was latterly Deputy Director, Infrastructure, for the Marseille region.
Deputy Managing Director of UK train operator Northern Rail Malcolm Brown is to join Angel Trains in the new position of Managing Director, UK, with effect from January. Kevin Tribley has been appointed Deputy Managing Director, UK, at the rolling stock leasing firm.
Philippe Royer has been appointed President of Groupe Manoir Industries SA, the parent of French trackwork components manufacturer Outreau Technologies.
Rob Brook has been appointed Managing Director of UK wagon hire company VTG, formerly CAIB UK.
