Francis Howhas been named Technical Director at the UK´s Railway Industry Association; he replaces Richard Gostling, who plans to retire later this year.

Cyrille du Pelouxhas succeeded Olivier Brousse as Managing Director at Veolia Transport.

Ian Prosseris to be Director of Railway Safety at the UK´s Office of Rail Regulation.

Riitta Ekengrenhas been appointed Chairman at EKE-Electronics Ltd.

Alan Calegarihas been named President & CEO at Union Switch & Signal.

Pál Szabó has been sworn in as Hungary´s Minister for Economy & Transport.

Noel Dempsey has retained his position as Minister for Transport in the first cabinet announced by new Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen.

Maphefo Matlala, previously Chief Director, Road Transport Regulation, at South Africa´s National Department of Transport, has been appointed CEO of South Africa´s Transport & Education Training Authority.

Larry Salci has been named President & CEO of Colorado Railcar Manufacturing. Former President and founder Tom Rader remains the sole shareholder of the company but has stepped down to concentrate on his other business interests.

Thomas Umberg has been appointed to the California High-Speed Rail Authority board by Speaker of the California State Assembly Fabian Núñez.

Stephan Coppey has been elected President of the greater Toulouse transport authority Tisséo-SMTC.

Alexander Vasilenko has been appointed Director General at Tver Carriage Works, part of Transmash Holding. He has been filling this post in a temporary capacity since January.

Philip Purdy has been named Metrolink Director and Jim Harries has taken up the position of Metrolink Engineering Manager at Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive.

Jean-Pierre Trotignon has been promoted from Chief Operating Officer to Deputy Chief Executive at Eurotunnel SA.

Jean-Paul Perrier has been appointed Vice-Chairman of Thales Group following a reorganisation of the management team.

New faces in London


Boris Johnson,the newly-elected Mayor of London, has announced that he is to chair the board of Transport for London, succeeding outgoing Mayor Ken Livingstone. Steven Norris will also join the board to co-ordinate work between TfL and the London Development Agency. Kulveer Ranger (right), who was involved with the delivery of London´s Oyster smart card ticketing system in 2003, has been named Director for Transport Policy.

Chinese officials dismissed


Chen Gong,Director, and Chai Tiemin, Party Secretary, lost their jobs at the Jinan railway bureau hours after a train crash in China´s eastern province of Shandong. Guo Jiguang, Deputy Director, was also dismissed on the following day. The derailment of the train, which was travelling from Beijing, killed over 70 people and injured hundreds more on April 28. All three former officials are subject to an investigation.

Claude Pecun Poson and Christian Boulanger have been named Managing Director and Chief Technical Officer respectively at the Democratic Republic of Congo's National Transport Agency.

Magdalena Álvarez has retained her portfolio as Minister of Development following the recent general election in Spain. Within the ministry, Víctor Morlán has been appointed Secretary of State for Planning & Institutional Relations while Josefina Cruz is Secretary of State for Infrastructure.

Juan Pablo Schiavi has been appointed President of Administración de Infraestructura Ferroviaria, the infrastructure company recently established by the federal government of Argentina (RG 4.08 p206). Freight and passenger operating company Operadora Ferroviaria is headed by Marcelo López.

David Azéma, Vinci Concessions CEO, is to return to SNCF on June 11 in the new post of Deputy Director General, Strategy & Finance. Reporting to him will be the following directors: Strategy, European Affairs & Sustainable Development, Fabienne Herlaud; Finance, Purchasing, Infor mation Systems & Telecommunications, Jean-Pierre Menanteau; Subsidiaries & Joint Ventures, Dominique Thillaud; and Audit & Risk Anne-Gabrielle Heilbronner-Lahoud.

Joachim Gerigk has been appointed CEO of Moscow-based Eurasia Rail Logistics, a joint venture between Railion Deutschland, Russian Railways, Poland's PKP Cargo and Belarusian Railway.

Conrad Löffel and former Railion Chairman Bernd Malmström have been elected to the board of directors at Swiss Federal Railways, replacing outgoing members Paul Otth and Mario Fontana.

Jim Betts has been appointed secretary of Victoria's new Department of Transport by the Australian state's Premier John Brumby.

Hartmut Mehdorn, Chairman at Deutsche Bahn AG, is to take on the additional role of Chairman at DB Mobility Logistics AG. Four other DB AG directors will also take on corresponding roles at DB ML: Diethelm Sack, Finance; Margret Suckale, Personnel; Karl-Friedrich Rausch, Passenger; and Norbert Bensel, Logistics.

Carlos Mladinic has been named Vice-President of Metro SA, operator of the Santiago metro in Chile. Joining the board at the same time is Andrés Gómez-Lobo, sitting alongside fellow directors Matías Bernier, Vicente Pardo, Iván Valenzuela, Sonia Tschorne and Clemente Pérez who is President of Metro SA.

Guillaume Pepy, SNCF President, has been appointed as a member of the UIC European Management Committee and Vice-Chairman of the UIC Regional Assembly for Europe.

Anthony Shorris has resigned from his position as Executive Director at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Juan Fernández has been appointed Director General, Strategic Development, at Spanish national operator RENFE. His previous responsibilities are now divided between Director General, Freight & Logistics, Francisco Bonache and Daniel García, Director General of rolling stock maintenance business Integria.

Mercè Sala, former President of RENFE, died on May 7.

Moussa Moussaoui, Director General at ONCF Morocco from 1966 to 1994, died on April 15.

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