Mr Ivan Yuryk has been appointed acting chairman of Ukraine Railways (UZ), after Mr Volodymyr Zhmak was removed by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers. Zhmak was appointed chairman of UZ in August 2020. Yuryk is currently UZ’s chief financial officer and has been appointed on an interim basis to ensure financial and operational stability during the search for a new CEO.

Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has named Ms Stephanie Wiggins as chief executive, succeeding Mr Phillip Washington, who will step down when his contract expires in May.

Stephanie Wiggins

Wiggins served Metro as Deputy CEO prior to taking on her current role as CEO of Metrolink, Southern California’s regional and commuter rail service, in December 2018. She has also held the position of regional programs director for the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), overseeing transit, commuter rail, rideshare, goods movement and rail capital projects.

Wiggins will manage a budget of nearly $US 7bn and oversee up to $US 20bn in capital construction projects.

Chicago commuter rail operator Metra has promoted Mr Kevin McCann to the position of chief operating officer (COO) following the retirement of the current COO, Mr Bruce Marcheschi.

McCann will lead all aspects of Metra’s operations, including the Transportation, Mechanical and Engineering departments. He will also oversee safety, rules, regulatory compliance, environmental compliance, operations training, T&E training and certification.

Ms Alice Bravo, former director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) for Miami-Dade County, Florida, is joining WSP USA as Florida District leader, as part of the Southeast Region team. She will be responsible for project delivery and client engagement in Florida, covering transport, environmental, healthcare and other infrastructure projects.

At DTPW, Bravo managed Metrorail, Metromover, Metrobus and para-transit services, leading nearly 4000 employees. Bravo spearheaded the county’s Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (Smart) Plan, comprising six rapid transit corridors, and worked to add new trains to the Metrorail fleet.

United States short line operator Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) has appointed Mr Eddie Aston as CEO of its UK/Europe Region, which includes British rail freight operator Freightliner; British container-logistics provider Pentalver; German and Polish freight operator Freightliner Poland; and Rotterdam Rail Feeding, which provides shunting and rail feeder services in the Netherlands.

Eddie Aston

Aston’s background in logistics and supply chain management includes 13 years at DHL, where he was CEO of Global Sectors, CEO of the Global Life Sciences and Health Care Sector and held leadership positions in DHL’s supply chain solution divisions in Britain. He also served as UK, Ireland and Nordics managing director at Ceva Logistics and as UK managing director at Northgate.

Mr Martin Becker-Rethmann has been appointed CEO of Transdev’s operations in Germany, reporting directly to Mr Thierry Mallet, chairman of the board of Transdev. Becker-Rethmann’s appointment is part of a restructuring under which Transdev’s operations in France, the United States and Germany, its three largest markets, will be overseen by representatives on the International Executive Committee.

Martin Becker-Rethmann

British transport secretary, Mr Grant Shapps, has appointed Sir Jon Thompson as a non-executive director to the board of High Speed 2 (HS2). Thompson will represent the government’s interests on the board, as recommended by the independent Oakervee Review of HS2.

Thompson brings strong financial management and experience in leading major projects. He is currently chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council and was previously the permanent secretary at both the Ministry of Defence and HM Revenue and Customs.

Intermodal operator Kombiverkehr has appointed Mr Jouke Schaap as head of its Benelux region in the International Sales division, in order to strengthen its sales commitment to the growing intermodal corridor linking the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg. Since 2004, Schaap has worked in various management positions at the Port of Rotterdam, APM Terminals, Peel Ports and Shuttlewise.

Jouke Schaap

Dr Tobias Heinemann, the management spokesperson at Transdev, has been appointed as the president of Mofair, which promotes fair competition in German passenger rail. He succeeds Mr Christian Schreyer, who is stepping down as head of the supervisory board at Transdev. Schreyer will remain on the Mofair board as a co-opted member.

Mr Nicolas Massart has been appointed chief technical and innovation officer of Systra, and as a member of the group’s executive committee. Massart is responsible for technical excellence and for developing innovation and pursuing the group’s digital transformation.

Massart was previously operations director and then regional director of the Africa and Southern Europe Region. Since 2019, he has been project director for lines 15 West and 15 East of Grand Paris Express on behalf of the Société du Grand Paris. Massart joined Systra in 2011, after working for Areva and then the French Ministry of Industry.

Norwegian operator Vy has appointed Mr Marius Holm as executive vice-president of communications and public relations. Holm was previously general manager of the environmental foundation Zero for nine years.

British railway infrastructure services and survey provider XRail has appointed Mr Noel Travers as managing director, leading the company’s expansion into rail markets in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Spain.

Travers was previously sales director at Bombardier Transportation for UK, Ireland and South Africa and held various project management roles, before spending 18 months as interim chairman and UK managing director for the company. He joined Unipart Rail as deputy managing director in 2016, becoming managing director early in 2017. In December 2018, he also became managing director of Unipart Manufacturing Group, with overall responsibility for the group’s automotive and aerospace manufacturing businesses.

Mr Cornelius Weitzmann has been appointed president and CEO of Voith Turbo and member of the management board of Voith effective June 1. He succeeds Dr Uwe Knotzer, who will leave the company on May 31 at his own request.

Weitzmann joined Voith in 2007, and since 2009 has served as managing director of Voith Paper in Wisconsin, United States. In 2011, he was named president Fabric & Roll Systems. Since April 2015, Weitzmann has been a member of the Board of Management of Voith Turbo, responsible for the Power, Oil & Gas Division, before he took over the management of the Mobility Division in June 2016.