The ETCR (European Training Centre for Railways) is an independent association within the European railway sector. The aim of the ETCR is to provide current and future managers with the opportunity to study and learn about European transport policy, as well as the latest developments affecting the Member States of the European Union.
The first ETCR seminar was organised in 1963.
Anders Svensson attended the course in 2004. Since 2010, he has been working at Trafikverket, the Swedish Transport Administration, where he is a Chief Strategist in the Strategic Development division. Trafikverket is responsible for the Swedish state-owned roads and railways. Anders has worked in the Swedish rail industry since 1991. Prior to joining Trafikverket, he worked at Banverket, the Swedish Rail Administration, until 2010. He has been a member of the ETCR Committee for more than ten years.
Axel Kiese joined the ETCR Committee in 2016, after attending the course in 2011. He studied and worked in various countries, including Germany, France, England, and several countries in West Africa. As a trained transport engineer and MBA holder, he now works for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS), representing the owner of passenger trains. In this role, he is closely involved in international rolling stock entering and leaving Switzerland.
Björn Westerberg has been a member of the ETCR Committee since spring 2025, after graduating from the course in 2021. He has more than 30 years of leadership, strategy, and policy experience. Before joining the railway sector, he worked as a management consultant, held several leadership positions at a listed IT firm, and was a Partner at a technology strategy advisory firm.
Björn joined SJ AB (the Swedish state-owned passenger operator) in 2007 as Head of ERTMS Signalling, and in 2010 he became Head of High-Speed Rail Procurement. In 2013, he joined the CEO Office as Head of Strategy. Between 2015 and 2021, Björn was the CEO of ASTOC (Association of Swedish Train Operating Companies), focusing on public affairs, advocacy, and European policy. During that time, he also served as Co-Chairman of the UIC Digital Platform and was appointed Advisor for Transport to the Swedish Government.
From 2021 to 2023, he worked as Director of WSP European Rail Advisory. Most recently, Björn served as Deputy Director of Railway Capacity Management at Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration) from 2023 to 2025. He holds an MSc in Management from Stanford University and a business degree from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Carlos Sarabia joined the ETCR Committee in 2018. He graduated from the training course in Bruges in 2006. He is the Maintenance Manager for the classic railway network in Barcelona, responsible for infrastructure, track, energy, signalling, and Barcelona’s control centre.
He has been working at ADIF (the Spanish Railway Infrastructure Manager) since 2004, where he has also led the Project Management Department. He holds a master’s degree in civil engineering and degrees in economics and history.
Colin Charman attended the course in 1992. He has worked in the UK rail industry for more than 40 years and has extensive experience in national and international rail operations, including rules, safety, station management, and people management.
He became a member of the ETCR Committee in 2002, before becoming Secretary and later President, a role he held from 2015 to 2025. He served as Course Director for the Bruges course until 2024. He is Safety Director at a heritage steam railway, as well as a Tutor with the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators.
Helena joined the ETCR Committee in 2022. She started her railway career at the Swedish Railways in 1984 and has also worked in Switzerland and the Netherlands. She now works at Banedanmark in Denmark as Asset Developer & Interdisciplinary Coordinator, after spending more than 25 years as an adviser mainly focused on freight transport and infrastructure development.
She is the Nordic President of NJS – Forum for Nordic Railway Professionals (until May 2026) and the Chairman of the Danish NJS department.
Jan Möllmann has been a member of the ETCR Committee since 2011, after graduating from the ETCR course in Bruges in 2001. He has 25 years of business experience working for public transport authorities and transport operators.
Since 2016, Jan has been working for Deutsche Bahn AG in the field of European policy, projects, and advocacy. He represents the interests of the railway sector at ERA (European Union Agency for Railways), the European Commission, and sector organisations. Before 2016, he was active in EU public affairs for ten years as Head of Transport Policy at Arriva. During that time, he also served as Secretary General of EPTO (European Passenger Operators) and worked as a Senior Advisor with UITP (Union Internationale des Transports Publics).
Joy Grey has more than ten years of experience working within the team managing the MSc in Railway Systems Engineering & Integration at the University of Birmingham, England. She has served as the first point of contact for recruitment, student enhancement activities, and stakeholder liaison.
Joy is a highly experienced Executive and Personal Assistant with a proven ability to operate as a trusted strategic partner to senior leaders in fast-paced and complex environments. She is collaborative, adaptable, and stakeholder-focused, with a consistent track record of enabling effective decision-making and organisational outcomes.
László Jakab has been a member of the ETCR Committee since 2011. He graduated from the course in Bruges in 2006. He works for RTB CARGO, a freight railway undertaking with a market presence in five countries.
Mr Jakab started his railway career in 1998 at entry level in a marshalling yard in Sopron before attending the Vienna University of Business Administration. After completing his studies, he started working as a Sales and Project Manager, participating in several international freight-related projects at the Hungarian railway undertaking GYSEV CARGO.
Lenie de Fretes-Manusiwa has worked in education and at various national and international organisations in the fields of meteorology, recruitment, international trade fairs, and legal services. She has also worked at ProRail in Capacity Management, Projects, and Safety.
Lenie has been involved with ETCR since 2012 and has served as Seminar Manager since 2025.
Maaike Coucke joined the ETCR Committee in 2015. She is Deputy General Counsel and Team Lead Digital & Data at SNCB, the Belgian national railway operator, where she leads the legal team on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data protection, data governance, and broader digital regulation.
She holds a law degree and is a true generalist with experience in liability law, complex international contracts, corporate governance, competition law, and IT contracts. Maaike strongly values collaborative teamwork and actively invests in coaching and developing new talent.
Mikael Prenler attended the course in 1992 and became a member of the ETCR Committee in 2015. He is Chairman of ETCR Alumni, the group responsible for organising the ETCR Former Trainees Day each year, and represents ETCR Alumni on the Committee.
Mikael Prenler has experience in different parts of the railway sector since 1980 and currently works as a Senior Consultant in public procurement, with a special focus on public transport, particularly rail traffic.
Thomas Nygreen attended the course in 2017 and joined the ETCR Committee in 2020. He has been working in capacity analysis, strategic timetabling, railway data modelling, and railway traffic simulation in the Norwegian railway sector since 2012. Throughout these years, Thomas has been involved in innovation projects using mathematical optimisation to automate and facilitate railway timetabling.
He currently works as a Senior Railway Capacity Engineer at the Norwegian Railway Directorate (Jernbanedirektoratet). Thomas is also railML.org’s Schema Coordinator for the Common Schema of railML.
