Dr Annegret Groebel and Prof. Karsten Otte new chair and vice-chair of the Independent Regulators' Group - Rail (IRG-Rail) for 2023

Year of issue2022
Date of issue2022.05.27

At its ordinary Plenary Assembly on 24 and 25 May 2022, the delegates of the rail regulatory authority members of elected the Bundesnetzagentur as vice-chair of for 2022 and as chair of for 2023.

"We are delighted at the trust our European colleagues have placed in us so that we may once again support the work of by bringing to bear our many years of experience in international matters and in rail regulation and drive the work of -RAIL forward," said Annegret Groebel, Head of International/Post Regulation, and Karsten Otte, Head of Rail Regulation.

In six working groups and various task forces, prepares position papers on current developments in the rail sector. These are then approved by the members at the plenary assembly, which is held twice a year. The chair and vice-chair are appointed for a one-year term. Until their term starts, Groebel and Otte will support the current chair, Nikola Popvic from the Croatian regulatory authority Hakom, in his work, in particular in the preparatory work for the 2023 work programme.

In 2023 ground-breaking changes are expected to the European regulatory framework for capacity allocation in train services as a significant driver towards carbon-light mobility. To make optimum use of scarce infrastructure resources, discussions have been taking place for several years on new models for allocating capacity, such as "Deutschland Takt" and "Time Tabling Redesign" or "Smart Capacity Management". Following extensive preparations and evaluations by the European Commission, there will be discussions in 2023 on targeted legislative changes. This is where will be delighted to contribute its expertise.

is a network of 31 independent rail regulatory authorities in Europe. Its aim is to support European cooperation between authorities as well as to promote the European railway market. More information on can be found at www.irg-rail.eu.

Press release (pdf / 226 KB)