Guest speakers
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Mr. Trevor Garrod Chairman EPF Mr. Trevor GARROD is graduated from Oxford University 1969 in Modern Languages (French and German), and obtained PGCE at Leeds University 1970. Taught in secondary and middle schools 1970-87 and subsequently also at evening classes. Civil servant at DSS (subsequently Department of Work & Pensions) 1987-2011. Retired September 2011. Active in Railway Development Society (now Railfuture) and its predecessor body from early 1970s. Served as General Secretary 1986-2001. Chairman of European Passengers' Federation from its formation in 2002 to date. Also Chairman of East Suffolk Travellers' Association (for train and bus users) since 1997. Has long experience of representing passengers and working for better rail services. Has written or edited many books and reports on railway matters, organised special trains and visits, conferences and events to promote rail travel and deal with issues facing train and to some extent bus users.
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Mr. Sergi Alegre Calero Chairman ARC Sergi ALEGRE CALERO is the Vice-Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat in Spain, where he is in
charge of spatial planning and of environmental issues. The Barcelona El Prat
airport is one of the fastest growing European airports, and Mr. Alegre Calero
has been responsible of accommodating the needs and constraints of a fast
growing business. Mr. Alegre Calero has been serving in the ARC Executive
Committee since 2002. He became the ARC president in 2011.
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Mr. Philip Martin Head of Marketing for Amadeus rail Since joining Amadeus in 1990 Philip has held various senior manager positions in development, product management and marketing in a variety of business lines, such as Hospitality, Tours, Car Rental, Airlines, Insurance, Ferry and Cruise. Philip has worked with railways and travel agencies since 1999 as both Business Unit Manager and Head of Ground & Maritime product management. As Head of Marketing Philip's main responsibilities are setting and implementing the Amadeus Rail marketing strategy and tactics. Prior to joining Amadeus, Philip worked for both British Airways and American Express as a systems engineer. Philip holds a degree in Environmental Science from
Sussex University, something that is becoming more and more useful with today’s
focus on “green” travel. He is a British citizen and is fluent in English and
French.
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Mr. Christopher Irwin Vice-President of EPF Christopher IRWIN, the Vice President of the European
Passengers' Federation, has represented passengers on the Agency's board since
its inception in 2006. For the last three years he has chaired the
board's finance, budget and human resources sub-committee. Formerly a
senior media executive, he is currently chair of the Franco-British
Intergovernmental Commission that supervises the operation of the Channel
Tunnel.
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Mr. Willy Smeulders Board Member of EPF Willy SMEULDERS professional career has seen him carry out a lot of international travelling, a lot of flying and especially travelling experience with trains in Japan, very high performance travel system, less often in China, Taiwan, South Korea and the USA. Professional Career: Department Head of Factory Automation of S.A. Philips Industrial Hasselt; Director of Development of Compact Disc and derivatives. CEO of S.A. Philips Interactive Media Centre (Development of Interactive Software, Encoding Technology, and production of CD-ROM, CD-V, DVD titles). Mobility Career: Member of Train Tram Bus advisory board (2010); Member of the council of EPF and representative for Belgium Dutch speaking region (2009); Board member of Train Tram Bus (2011); Board Member of EPF (European Passenger Federation).
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Mr. Yannis Vardakastanis Chairman EDF Yannis VARDAKASTANIS has been President of the European Disability Forum (EDF), the umbrella organization of the European Disability movement, since 1999. He has also been the President of National Confederation of Disabled People of Greece since 1993.
He has been an active disability rights campaigner throughout his working life and has held a number of key positions: elected member of the Board of the European Blind Union (from 1996 to 2011), Vice President of the Social Platform of European Social NGOs (from 1999 until 2003) and member of the Management Committee (from 2003 until 2007) of the Social Platform to name a few.
Since September 2010, he is also a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), representing the Greek Confederation of Disabled People and a member of the EESC Bureau. Additionally, he has been chairing the International Disability Alliance (IDA) between 2012 and 2014.
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Mrs. Ruth Lopian DG-MOVE Ruth Lopian is a Policy Officer in the European
Commission, DG Mobility and Transport, in the Unit dealing with Passenger
Rights. She is in charge of the rights of passengers in rail transport and of
passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility across transport modes. She
joined the European Commission in 1993 and has worked in different services
(i.a. Transport, Enlargement, Internal Market and Competition) before taking up
her current position. Ruth Lopian holds a degree in administration and a BA in
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Mr. Anthony Smith Chief Executive of Passenger Focus Anthony SMITH is the Chief Executive at Passenger Focus, a public body set up by the Department for Transport to represent rail, bus and tram passengers.
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Mr. Fotis Karamitsos Deputy Director of DG-MOVE Fotis
KARAMITSOS (Director, Directorate General Mobility and Transport, The
European Commission). Mr Karamitsos is Director within the Directorate
General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) of the European
Commission. His Directorate is responsible for the development and
follow-up of the implementation of Maritime transport policy, maritime safety and
maritime security and environmental protection, as well as inland waterway
transport. Recently he has also been responsible for the setting up the
European Satellite Navigation System GALILEO as regards policy, infrastructure
and applications, and for setting the Regulatory framework for the Intelligent
Transport Systems. He is with the European Commission for over 30 years,
where he has worked on various Transport issues, as well on Telecommunications,
Information society, Environment, Tourism and Research and
Development. Before joining the Commission he worked with the World Health
Organisation's programme on Greater Athens Pollution Control and on the Greek
Academic and Public Sectors. He holds degrees in Civil Engineering and
Transportation planning from the Technical University of Athens and from Leeds
University.
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Mr. Michael Cramer Chair of TRAN Committee Michael CRAMER in the 1989-2004 was a member of the Berlin city-state parliament and served there as spokesman for transport for the Greens. He has a detailed knowledge of the conditions bicyclists face in Berlin, and has also enjoyed bicycle vacations on cycling routes in the United States, in Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany. Mr. Cramer has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004 and his function speaker for the Greens in the committee on transport and tourism (TRAN). Finally, Michael Cramer is spokesman for the parliamentary group of the association Europa-Union in the European Parliament and beginning 2011 he became vice-chairman of the newly founded Rail Forum Europe and member of the advisory board of the Hamburg based EURIST (European Institute for Sustainable Transport).
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Mr. Christoph Klenner Secretary General of ETTSA Christoph KLENNER is the Secretary General of the European Technology & Travel Services Association (ETTSA), which groups global distribution systems (GDSs) and major online travel companies. Christoph represents the interests of ETTSA and its members vis-a-vis European policy makers, industry stakeholders, consumer groups and the media. Previously, Christoph was a partner at The Prisma Consulting Group, Brussels/Geneva. he advised, amongst others, Apax Partners, Boeing Co., The British Business and General Aviation Association, Expedia.com, Japan Air Lines, P&O/DP World, and SITA. A graduate of the University of Maastricht and Budapest University, Christoph is based in Brussels, Belgium. he is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the European Aviation Club. |
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Mr. Christian Wolmar
Moderator Christian Tage Forter WOLMAR is a British journalist, author, politician and railway historian of Swedish and Russian descent. He is best know for his books and commentary on transport, especially as a pundit on Britain's railway industry, and was named Transport Journalist of the Year in the National Transport Awards 2007. He is also an advocate for cycling as means of transport.
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