On June 7th, Forum Train Europe members came together for FTE’s Plenary Assembly in Krakow, Poland. The Assembly elected four new members of the FTE Executive Board (ExBo). The mandate and the mission of the new ExBo will be crucial since it will lead the FTE organisation during the revision of the EU law for capacity management (Greening Transport Package) and the first year of TTR hybrid implementation. We are bringing you short interviews with the all-new ExBo members, so that you can get know them better, understand their visions, and hear about the topics to which they would like to dedicate their attention.
This time we talked to Richard Herrmann, newly elected ExBo member new head of the FTE Commission for Freight. Richard serves as the Head of Single Wagon Service at DB Cargo Germany, he is well-known in the international environment, as he’s been part of the FTE community since 2012. For several years he has chaired the FTE Working Group Freight, where freight RUs discuss process and business-related topics.
The Plenary Assembly is over now, and you will travel back to focus on your main responsibilities within DB Cargo Germany. Can you give us an idea of what tasks and challenges are currently on your table?
We are currently in the middle of the annual timetable process and have conflicts to resolve with DB Netz and other RUs. For the first time, DB Netz has planned a large construction project, a so-called high performance corridor, for 2024. This presents us with some challenges. Furthermore, we currently have a number of projects, especially for single-wagon transport, to prepare us for the future. One of the topics, for example, is the planned funding of single wagon transport in Germany.
You have experienced the work of FTE from all possible angles, namely as a conference participant, working group member, working group chairman, and now you’ve reached the highest position, the Executive Board. How do you feel about that? Do you see this experience as an advantage for the ExBo mission?
I am honoured to have been elected to this position and would like to thank you once again for the trust you have placed in me. I think that I can contribute some experience from the various activities and perspectives in order to actively participate in the further shaping of FTE.
What are the topics in the area of capacity management that you think the FTE community should focus on in the upcoming years?
We must work together on the further development of the entire timetable ordering process in order to make it more market-oriented and to distribute capacities in the rail network, which are becoming increasingly limited in some cases, as efficiently but also fairly as possible. With TTR we are on the right track here, but we will still have to solve some challenges with the infrastructure managers.
Some stakeholders say that passenger and freight members have different and conflicting interests. However, FTE membership and the FTE executive board contain both freight and passenger. How do you think the FTE community can cope with that and would it be possible to find a balance?
That is correct. In certain areas we have different positions because of the different requirements of our end customers. In the end, however, we all use the same infrastructure and have to face the same problems here, for example with a view to availability and restrictions due to construction works. Also, especially in freight transport, many of the members are already in a competitive and cooperative situation at the same time. Nevertheless, we should try to jointly develop the rules for access to the infrastructure and the processes behind it. Therefore, for fundamental issues, we need a strong, joint position of passenger and freight that we can and must represent to other stakeholders.
Lastly, is there any specific message you would like to give to the staff of FTE members?
I think the opportunities for rail sector are very good right now. So, we should continue to push the FTE motto: Planning Trains to Connect Europe.