Matthä, the longest serving vice-chair of the committee, is taking over from the president and CEO of Swedish national operator SJ and chairman of the Swedish Association of Train Operators (ASTOC), Mr Crister Fritzson. Matthä will stand as a candidate for the two-year chairman position during the CER general assembly on February 19.
“These are decisive times for the railway sector,” Matthä says. “We need to make rail and other means of sustainable transport a centrepiece of the implementation of the European Green Deal.
“We need to strengthen rail infrastructure in Europe and pay more attention to the challenges and benefits of digitalisation. Europe must foster the right conditions to shift traffic from road to rail. I thank Crister Fritzson for his commitment to CER and I am looking forward to working with all CER members to make rail the backbone of Europe’s mobility system.”
In October, Fritzson announced he would be stepping down as president and CEO and SJ to take up the role of CEO of Swedish communication equipment provider Net Insight in April, where he has sat on the board since 2013. The process to appoint his successor at SJ is underway.
