Conference speakers – Updated Regularly
Oana Gherghinescu: Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).
Ms. Gherghinescu has more than 11 years of dedicated service and leadership within the Agency. She is highly committed to advancing safe, seamless, and future-ready rail transport across Europe. Prior to joining ERA, she held various positions in strategic and operational management, with a strong focus on the implementation of European Union policies and programmes. Her leadership focuses on enabling smooth and interoperable movement of passengers and goods across borders, with particular emphasis on ensuring the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), the development of high-speed rail, and the adaptability of the sector in times of crisis. Ms. Gherghinescu will hold a general keynote speech opening the second day of the conference.
Wouter Koolmees: CEO of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).
Wouter Koolmees served as Minister for Social Affairs and Employment from 2017 to 2022. From 2019 to 2020, he also served as second Deputy Prime Minister. He has served as President of Nederlandse Spoorwegen since 1 November 2022.
Gunta Anca: Vice-President of the European Disability Forum (EDF).
Gunta Anca has been a proactive disability rights activist throughout her career. Since 2002, she is the Chair of the Latvian Umbrella Body for Disability Organisations (Sustento). She is also very active in promoting gender equality. She was also a Board member of the European Women’s Lobby (the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the EU. Since 2006, she is a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), an EU consultative body that gives representatives of Europe’s socio-occupational interest groups, and others, a formal platform to express their points of views on EU issues. Since 2008, she is Advisor in the Disability Rights Fund – a collaboration between donors and the disability community to advance the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Josef Doppelbauer: Chairman of the new Sector Delivery Group (SDG) of the Platform on International Rail Passenger Transport (IRP).
Josef Doppelbauer has been executive director of the European Railway Agency (ERA) for 10 years from 2015 until the end of 2024. He led the Agency to a new era as a European authority, where EU-wide vehicle authorisation, safety certification, and ERTMS trackside approval are granted. Josef Doppelbauer has more than 25 years experience in key aspects of railway technology, including signalling and control command systems. From 2012 to 2014, he was chairman of the European Rail Research Advisory Committee (ERRAC), the European technology platform of the rail sector. From 2011 to 2014, he was the chairman of the Steering Committee of the Joint Technology Initiative Shift2Rail. Josef Doppelbauer has been appointed chairman of the new Sector Delivery Group (SDG) of the Platform on International Rail Passenger Transport (IRP). He will hold a keynote speech sketching his view on what is needed for EU and member states to roll out a borderless Europe for public transport. He will also announce the new Sector Delivery Group.
Elisabeth Kotthaus: Head of Unit, DG MOVE.
Elisabeth Kotthaus is Head of Unit for Social Affairs, Passenger Rights & Equal Opportunities in the Directorate- General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) of the European Commission since September 2017. She joined the European Commission in 2005. She worked there in the areas of TEN-T and the internal market of electricity and gas (DG TREN), anti-fraud (as Member of Cabinet), transport in general (as assistant to the Director-General of DG MOVE), Justice & Home Affairs and Digital Agenda (as Deputy Head of the Political Section in the Representation of the Commission in Germany).
Jon Worth: Independent Railway Commentator.
Jon Worth is an independent railway commentator and writer focusing on European rail policy and cross-border passenger travel. Since 2022 he has led the #CrossBorderRail project, travelling extensively across Europe to investigate international railway connections and identify barriers to easier cross-border train travel. Through field research across hundreds of rail border lines, he documents practical issues affecting international journeys and explores solutions to improve the European rail network for passengers. He writes regularly about rail policy, ticketing, and international rail travel on his website and publishes analysis and research based on his work documenting cross-border rail services across Europe.
Chiara Tomasi: Head of Government Relations for Trainline in Brussels.
Chiara Tomasi is Head of Government Relations in Brussels at Trainline, where she represents the company in discussions with EU institutions on transport and digital policy. Based in Brussels, she works on regulatory developments affecting rail distribution, multimodal travel, and the policy framework shaping how passengers access and book rail services across Europe.
Henk Swarttouw: President of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF).
Henk Swarttouw has served as Ambassador of the Netherlands to Finland (2012-2015) and as Ambassador of the Netherlands to Denmark (2015-2019) next to 30 years of diplomatic experience. Henk Swarttouw will hold a keynote speech on sustainable mobility on the local, regional and European level and on organising users/passengers/citizens.
Elmer van Buuren: President of ALLRAIL, the Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants in Europe and Founder and Managing Director of European Sleeper.
Elmer van Buuren has been working in rail and public transport for over 25 years. He fulfilled many different operational roles, which provided him with in-depth knowledge of how trains are operated. After 11 years in various positions at Netherlands’ Railways NS, he briefly worked as a consultant, before founding the private night train-startup European Sleeper.
Marc Maartens: Moderator of EPF’26.
Marc Maartens is an independent chairperson and lecturer in traffic and transport policy. His roots lie in journalism. For over 30 years, he wrote articles, reports, interviews, and opinion pieces for the trade journal OV-Magazine (Public Transport-Magazine). In 2024, he published the Dutch “Handboek OV; public transport by professionals for travelers.” He enjoys asking sharp questions, can translate complex material into clear language, and feels at home at the intersection of current events, news, trends, and developments. Marc Maartens was a board member of the OV-fiets Foundation (Public Transport-bike) and a commissioner of the car-sharing platform MyWheels.