On July 24th 2020, the Presiding Board of the German Railway Industry Association (VDB) elected Andre Rodenbeck, CEO Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility GmbH, President of the Association with immediate effect, succeeding Michael Fohrer. The new VDB Vice President Rolling Stock is Jure Mikolčić, CEO of Stadler Pankow GmbH.
Berlin - The German Railway Industry Association (VDB) is under new leadership. During a meeting of the Presiding Board on July 24th 2020 the VDB Presiding Board elected the former VDB Vice President Rolling Stock and Digitalization, Andre Rodenbeck, new VDB President. Rodenbeck is the CEO Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility.
"The Railway must be a forerunner for climate-friendly, safe and digital mobility in and out of Europe. This is my commitment as first-line representative of our industry", said Andre Rodenbeck. He emphasized: "With the Rail Transport Master Plan, an ambitious modernization program was launched. Now it is a matter of shaping a new era of sustainable mobility. This includes a comprehensive digitalization of the rail network, the promotion of alternative drive systems and the market ramp-up for rail innovations".
Andre Rodenbeck joined Siemens in 2003 and was appointed as CEO Rail Infrastructure in April 2019. In his capacities as General Manager Mass Transit, Head of Sales for Mainline Signalling, Director Sales and Projects, Business Development and Project Manager, the industrial engineer worked for Siemens Mobility inter alia in Spain, Thailand and Germany.
He succeeds Michael Fohrer, who had informed the Presiding Board on 15 July 2020 about his resignation from Bombardier Transportation and from the position of VDB President. "The German Railway Industry can play a key role for the future emission-free mobility "Made in Germany". It is out of conviction that I advocated for this vision - a vision we all jointly work towards in our industry", said Fohrer. The VDB Presiding Board as well as the VDB Management thanked Fohrer for his outstandingly successful commitment to the railway industry and climate protection especially in the COVID 19 crisis.
The Presiding Board has appointed Jure Mikolčić as new VDB Vice President Rolling Stock. Mikolčić is CEO of Stadler Pankow GmbH and a member of the Executive Committee of Stadler Rail AG. The graduate economist has worked in the rail industry for many years, inter alia as a former managing director of Knorr-Bremse Powertech and former president of Commuter and Regional Trains at Siemens.
The Presiding Board has also decided to elect a fourth Vice President for the key area of Digitization by the end of the year.
Mr. Müslüm Yakisan is President, DACH Region (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) at Alstom SA.
