THE chairman of German Rail’s (DB) supervisory board, Mr Michael Odenwald, has announced he will resign at the end of July. Odenwald, who joined the board in 2012 and became chairman in April 2018, announced his resignation during a regular board meeting in Potsdam on June 23.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to resign my mandate,” Odenwald says. “After 10 years of work on the supervisory board, it is time for a change. DB is - regardless of all the current challenges - a great company for which I have always been very happy to be involved. I wish the executive board, all managers and especially the employees all the very best.”
Odenwald, a qualified lawyer, began his career more than 30 years ago with the federal ministry of transport, eventually rising to become state secretary for transport.
“We very much regret Mr Odenwald's decision,” says DB CEO, Dr Richard Lutz. “He has rendered outstanding service to DB over the years. He deserves our express thanks and great appreciation for this. My colleagues on the management board also thank him for his trusting and always result-oriented cooperation. We wish him only the best for the future.”
DB also announced changes to its management board. Mr Berthold Huber, the current board member for passenger transport, has been appointed as the new head of the infrastructure department. The 58-year-old will take over on July 1 this year from Mr Ronald Pofalla, who left the company at his own request at the end of April. Huber's contract runs until spring 2027.
From July 1, Ms Evelyn Palla will head the newly-created regional transport department. The 48-year-old business economist was previously the board member responsible for finance on the management board of DB Long Distance. She joined DB from Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) at the end of 2018 where she was responsible for local and regional transport.
Evelyn Palla
The previous head of DB Regio, Dr Jörg Sandvoß, will take on the role of group representative for Infrastructure for the Common Good, a central rail policy project of the federal government.
Dr Michael Peterson moves up to the group executive board. Peterson, who holds a doctorate in business administration, will head the newly-created long-distance passenger transport division from July 1. The 51-year-old has been chairman of the management board of DB Long Distance since mid-2019.
Palla and Peterson’s contracts will each run for three years, the normal term for new appointments.
