GERMAN transport minister, Patrick Schnieder, announced on September 22 that Evelyn Palla has been appointed as the new CEO of German Rail (DB). Palla, a 52-year-old Italian national, joined DB in 2019 as chief financial officer of the company’s long-distance passenger subsidiary and was appointed DB board member for regional transport in 2022. Last year Palla qualified as a driver, making her the only DB board member to have this skill. ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä comments: "Due to her eight years of work at ÖBB, I know Evelyn Palla well. In a joint statement, the German Rail Freight Association (Die Güterbahnen) and Mofair, which represents private operators, say:“Palla knows the need for restructuring and the image problems of DB.