Masatake Matsuda stepped down as Chairman of JR East from April 1, becoming a senior advisor to the company. His place was taken by Mutsutake Otsuka, formerly President of the railway. Vice-President Satoshi Seino became President & CEO, and Tetsujiro Tani was appointed Executive Vice-President for planning, IT, public relations, legal matters and administration.
Dick Fearn has been appointed Chief Executive of Iarnród éireann.
On March 29 Jonas Birzhiskis was succeeded as Director-General of Lithuanian Railways by the previous head of Passenger Transportation Stasis Daidlika.
Brian W Grassby has been appointed acting Chief Financial Officer of Canadian Pacific Railway, replacing Michael T Waites.
Railway Association of Canada Chairman Sean Finn announced on March 27 that Cliff Mackay would become President & CEO with effect from May 1.
Tony Thomas has been appointed Managing Director of Docklands Light Railway operator Serco Docklands.
Sea Containers founder and Chairman James B Sherwood retired from the company's board and all subsidiaries with effect from March 20. Robert MacKenzie has become President & CEO, and Robert M Riggs is Chairman.
On April 19 Kansas City Southern announced the appointment of Jose Guillermo Zozaya Delano as President & Executive Representative of Kansas City Southern de Mexico.
Peter Testoni has become President of Alp Transit Gotthard AG, replacing Franz Kellerhals, who has retired.
Jo Strang has been appointed Associate Administrator for Safety at the US Federal Railroad Administration, where she will be responsible for FRA inspectors.
Head of Research at Westinghouse Rail Systems John Francis has been elected President of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers for 2006-07.
Arie van As has been appointed Managing Director of NedTrain, replacing Jacques Huberts who has been promoted to Managing Director of NS Reizigers, in place of Pamela Bouwmeester who becomes Managing Director of NS Stations.
On April 18 Patrice Kreis was named Communications Director of Réseau Ferré de France.
Michael S Townes has been appointed first Vice-Chair of the American Public Transportation Association by the executive committee. He succeeds Howard Silver, who became Chair following the February 24 resignation of Ronald L Barnes. Townes was previously Vice-Chair, Management & Finance, a position that will remain vacant until the annual meeting in October.
With the completion of a restructuring programme that has seen Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking acquire a 49·9% stake (RG 2.06 p98), the board of Patentes Talgo SA now comprises: President Carlos Palacio; Chief Executive Officer José María Oriol; Director General, Corporate, Eduardo Fern? ndez-Gorostiaga; Javier Bañón and Murat Erkurt representing Lehman Brothers; José María Muñnoz of MCH Private Equity; Emilio Novela of Noqea; Burkhard Schuchmann; and Board Secretary Ramón Hermosilla.
Under a revised management structure approved by the ADIF board on March 31, Rafael López Gonz? lez is Director General, Strategic Planning, at the Spanish infrastructure authority. Luis María Pérez is Director General, High Speed Major Projects, while the post of Director General, Infrastructure Development, is held by Manuel S? nchez. Manuel Benegas is Director General, Infrastructure Operations. Four directors have been appointed to head high speed projects: Santiago Cobo, Madrid - Levante; Rafael López Palomar, Madrid - Valladolid - North; Antonio Fern? ndez, Madrid - Barcelona - Figueres; and Alfonso Gonz? lez, Córdoba - M? laga.
