New European structure for rail freight transportation at Deutsche Bahn AG

Effective immediately, rail freight transportation at Deutsche Bahn is to operate under the name “DB Schenker Rail” and is responsible for all national and European rail-based logistics activities. The newly formed business unit is comprised of five business segments. DB Schenker Rail now includes the companies of the Railion Group and the freight operator in the UK, English Welsh&Scottish Railway Holding Ltd. (EWS – now DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd), Transfesa in Spain, in which DB holds a majority stake as well as its stake in Italy-based Nordcargo. The new organization also includes Polish PCC Logistics acquired at the end of January. For this, the approval of the responsible bodies and authorities regarding the takeover is still pending.“With this new structure, which is designed to meet the needs of the market, we are responding to the constant pressure to consolidate on the European marketplace. Effective use of our resources will provide our customers with greater flexibility and attractive offerings. The focus of the new management team will be to improve the further integration of the rail network,” says Dr. Norbert Bensel, member of the DB Mobility Logistics AG Management Board with responsibility for the Transportation and Logistics Division. “With our workforce of around 36,000 employees, we intend to further strengthen our position as the leading rail freight carrier in Europe.”
DB Schenker Rail, with 120,000 freight cars and 3,900 locomotives, has the largest fleet on the continent.
“What we are developing here is completely new and unique in Europe. To date, there is no rail freight carrier that has such an extensive international network and such a broad base as we have,” says Dr. Klaus Kremper, CEO of DB Schenker Rail.
The new business unit includes the regionally structured business segments West, Central and East, and the cross regional Automotive and Intermodal segments. Region West includes amongst others the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. Region Central covers central Europe, including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden. Region East will be developed for Eastern Europe, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia and Belarus.
The Intermodal and Automotive segments combine activities in their relevant sectors across all regions. Automotive includes ATG Autotransportlogistic GmbH, Schenker Automotive RailNet GmbH (SAR) and Transfesa. The business segments will be responsible for sales and operations and also have profit and loss responsibility.
CEO Dr. Klaus Kremper will also head the Region Central segment. The other functions on the Management Board will be held by Karsten Sachsenröder (Sales Management), Matthias Reichel (Finance/Controlling) and Dr. Rudolf Müller (Human Resources).
The European management team includes in addition Keith Heller (CEO of DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd) as head of Region West, Dr. Christoph Wolff as head of Region East, Hans-Georg Werner as head of the Intermodal business segment and Axel Marschall heading up the Automotive segment.

Source: Transportweekly