Term of ERA Executive Director, Josef Doppelbauer extended for another five-year term

Taking office in January 2015, Josef Doppelbauer led the Agency to a new era as a European authority, where EU-wide vehicle authorisation, safety certification, and ERTMS trackside approval are granted. Preparing the Agency for these new tasks entailed a thorough internal restructuring, with staff numbers going up from roughly 160 in 2015 to close to 200 in 2019. The Agency welcomed a number of new highly trained experts from all over Europe in order to ensure the new tasks can be performed at all times and in all official EU languages.

Another important item under Josef Doppelbauer’s leadership was the reduction of national rules, which is seen as vital precondition for the functional integration of the European rail market. Whereas there were more than 16.000 technical rules in 2016, the number has been reduced to little more than a 1.000 in 2019, with further reductions in the pipeline.