Vincent Pouyet started his career in 2018 as “Country Director France” at Alpha Trains and has been a member of the senior management team ever since. Previously, the graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique Paris held positions as Sales Director and Sales Manager at Bombardier and Thales Communications & Security and as Department Manager at Siemens. Vincent Pouyet also has a master’s degree from the University of California and additional training in corporate finance. “Pérez and Pouyet will work closely together to ensure a smooth transition and the continued success of Alpha Trains,” the company said.
The author of these lines had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Pouyet for bahn manager magazine in 2018 after taking up his position for Alpha Trains France. At that time, France was on the verge of upheaval. In accordance with the requirements of the European Union, passenger transport should be opened up to competition from various railway companies.
Pouyet explained to us at the time: “The difficulty lies in the fact that the regional authorities in rail transport have previously only known the SNCF monopoly system and that today they have to organise competition. Therefore, it is necessary to approach this issue in a complex manner, organise tenders, ensure that the maintenance infrastructure is available. We believe we should play a role in ensuring that a rolling stock offering is available that is modern and attractive so that operators can provide a high level of service.”
| “We are in discussions with the regions and the operators to see which path and which solutions will allow us to move from a monopoly system to a competitive system and we hope for a system that is at the same time less expensive and much more attractive for travelers. We want to revitalise this sector to activate it more, to get more people on the trains, and I think that Alpha Trains has proven its know-how over 20 years with many successes with German regional trains.” |
The current CEO of the group, Fernando Pérez, has been with the Alpha Trains Group since 2001. In October 2012 he took over the locomotive division as managing director, and in March 2023 he became interim CEO at Alpha Trains. Commenting on his regular appointment as CEO, Neil Krawitz, Partner at Arcus Infrastructure Partners, stated on behalf of Alpha Trains shareholders APG, Arcus, PGGM and Swiss Life Asset Managers: “Fernando Pérez has a great track record in both technical and technical areas throughout his career at Alpha Trains as well as commercial management positions. We have been impressed by Fernando’s leadership and performance as interim CEO over the past four months and are pleased that he will continue to drive the company’s growth following the external selection process we conducted with the support of a reputable human resources consulting firm.”
We congratulate Vincent Pouyet on his new role and wish him, as well as Fernando Pérez, a good hand in the further expansion of your company!
Hermann Schmidtendorf, editor-in-chief
