Vincent Ducrot

Vincent Ducrot (born 7 September 1962) is a Swiss public transport executive. The electrical engineer specialised in information technology was the managing director of Transports publics Fribourgeois (TPF) from 2011 to 2020, before being named as the new CEO of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in December 2019.[1] He took up the position on 1 April 2020. The engineer with expertise in project management spent most of his career (from 1993 to 2011) at SBB, before becoming its CEO in 2020.[2]

Vincent Ducrot
Born (1962-09-07) 7 September 1962
Châtel-St-Denis, Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
Alma materEPFL, ETHZ
OccupationCEO of SBB (1 April 2020)
PredecessorAndreas Meyer (manager)

Biography

Early life and education

Vincent Ducrot was born in 1962 in Châtel-Saint-Denis in the canton of Fribourg, as the eldest of three children.

After a baccalaureate (Latin-languages) at Bulle College, he obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering (specialising in computer science) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne in 1987.[3] He completed this training with a postgraduate diploma in industrial organization from the Center for industrial management (BWI) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) of Zurich, as well as a certificate in portfolio management (Certified Portfolio Director IPMA Level A) and the OWP (Orchestrating winning performance) continuing education program of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne.

Early career

Vincent Ducrot began his professional life in 1986 as an IT specialist in various positions in Switzerland and abroad (Europe and the United States).

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)

In 1993, Vincent Ducrot started his career in the railway industry as the Head of SBB's Software Product Division.

From 1997 to 2002, he was the Executive for Expo.02, responsible for organising public transport during the Swiss National Exposition (held from 15 May to 20 October 2002).[4][5]

From 1999 to 2010, he was Head of Long-Distance Services of the SBB, responsible for deciding and implementing the long-distance services strategy for the Swiss rail network.[6] During this time he worked on the introduction of the first phase of Rail 2000 and the opening of the new Lötschberg Line and of the Lötschberg Tunnel (9 December 2007).[7][8]

Internationally, he was involved in setting up the TGV Lyria, the French high-speed rail connection between France and Switzerland with a first connection between Paris and Lausanne and,[9] among others, the LGV Est, as the connection between Basel and Paris since 2007.[10] Vincent Ducrot He also established the transport SBB's Swiss Transport Concept for UEFA Euro 2008.[11]

From 2009 to 2010, Vincent Ducrot also held the post ad interim of Acting Head of Passenger Division, which saw him join the senior management at SBB.[12]

Transport Publics Fribourgeois (TPF)

On 17 November 2010, Vincent Ducrot was named managing director of Transports publics Fribourgeois (TPF) with effect from 1 July 2011.[13] He transformed the TPF into a holding company in 2015.[14][15] Under his leadership, the number of passengers has risen from 25.7 million in 2011 to 32.5 million in 2018, and the number of employees has increased from 700 to nearly 1,200.[16]

At the head of the TPFs, he carried out several infrastructure modernisation projects, including new-generation stations, notably in Bossonnens, Belfaux, Pensier, Münchenwiler-Courgevaux, Montbovon and Châtel-St-Denis. Between 2014 and 2019, five new real estate districts have also been created around stations designed as new living spaces, i.e. those of Bulle and Châtel-St-Denis.[17][18][19]

In spring 2019, the director saw the completion of another huge project that he initiated at Givisiez: the new TPF Maintenance and Administrative Centre. Named "Givisiez Ensemble", this 70,000 m2 complex brings together the company's maintenance activities, operations centre and administration in a single location.[20][21]

Its track record also includes technological innovations for TPF users, including participation in the launch of FAIRTIQ (a mobile ticketing app released by 21 Swiss transport companies)[22] and the introduction of SMS ticketing (an application for purchasing bus tickets by SMS.)[23]

In 2017, the TPFs also opened the first test line of Navya SAS autonomous shuttles in Marly, where electric vehicles could run without driving personnel after the test phase.[24]

CEO of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)

On 10 December 2019, the board of directors of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) announced the appointment of Vincent Ducrot to the position of CEO, with effect from 1 April 2020.[25][26] He replaces Andreas Meyer, who had been at the head of the country's largest public transport company since 2007 and had announced – in September 2019 – his intention to step down in 2020.[27] The engineer from Fribourg thus becomes the first person from French-speaking Switzerland in almost 50 years to head the SBB.[28][29] The new SBB director faces an initial, unforeseen and enormous challenge from the outset: the organisation and management of rail traffic, which has been greatly reduced since 19 March 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the planning for the resumption of normal rail traffic operations after the lockdown.[30][31] In particular, Vincent Ducrot will have to deal with the economic challenges posed by the health crisis for the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), which posted a loss of almost 500 million Swiss francs in the first half of 2020.[32]

Opinions

At the head of the Transports publics fribourgeois (TPF), Vincent Ducrot has invested in the development of autonomous electric shuttles by commissioning (in 2017) the first test line of Navya SAS autonomous shuttles in Marly. He is convinced that autonomous vehicles on the road and also on the rails will play an important role in the public transport of the future.[33]

Publications
  • Information Engineering in der Praxis: Konzepte und Strategien zur Software-Eigenentwicklung, Walter Brenner (éditeur), Christoph Binkert (éditeur), Michael Lehmann-Kahler (éditeur), Campus Verlag, 2019, Vincent Ducrot co-author.[34]

References
  1. Handelszeitung (10 December 2019). "Wer ist Vincent Ducrot, der neue Chef der SBB?" [Who is Vincent Ducrot, the new chief of the SBB?]. Handelszeitung (in German). Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  2. Burroughs, David (10 December 2019). "Vincent Ducrot to replace Meyer as SBB CEO". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  3. "Un alumni EPFL deviendra patron des CFF" [An EPFL alumni will become the chief of the SBB] (in French). Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne – Alumni. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  4. Léchot, Bernard (3 July 2001). "expo.02: branle-bas de combat aux CFF!". Swissinfo.ch (in French). Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  5. Léchot, Bernard (3 July 2001). "expo.02: le train, "le moyen de transport le plus naturel"". swissinfo (in French). Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  6. cer avec les agences (28 June 2010). "Bombardier remporte le contrat du siècle des CFF". RTS info (in French). Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  7. "The Lötschberg enters operation". Alptransit Portal. 9 December 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  8. The Federal Council (5 March 2007). "La 1re étape de RAIL 2000 est une réussite". The portal of the Swiss government (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  9. Sardet, Frédéric (2 February 2009). "Lausanne (commune), L'économie et les transports aux XIXe et XXe siècles". Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS) (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  10. "CFF: temps de parcours encore réduits". RTS.ch (in French) (published 3 May 2006). 28 June 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  11. The Federal Council (31 May 2007). "Le concept de transport pour l'UEFA EURO 2008 est sur les rails". The portal of the Swiss government (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  12. UIC – E-News, no 159 (6 November 2009). "Switzerland. Change to the Management Board of the Swiss Railways (SBB): Jürg Schmid appointed Head of Passenger Division" (PDF). International union of railways. p. 17. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  13. Zurkinden, Vincent (18 November 2010). "Vincent Ducrot wird neuer Direktor des TPF". Freiburger Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  14. "Les TPF changent pour affronter l'avenir" [The TPF changes to face the future] (in French). La Liberté. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  15. Gaillet, Claude-Alain (25 February 2015). "L'homme qui carbure aux défis géants". La Liberté (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  16. "Les TPF ont transporté plus de 29 millions de voyageurs en 2015" [TPF transported over 29 million travelers in 2015]. La Liberté (in French). 18 April 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  17. ats/nxp (14 December 2019). "Inauguration de la nouvelle gare de Châtel-St-Denis". 24 heures (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  18. Rey, Michel (11 August 2018). "La stratégie immobilière des Transports publics fribourgeois". La Méduse (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  19. Sanchez, Stéphane (31 August 2013). "La gare du futur est à Bossonnens". La Liberté (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  20. "Le centre d'exploitation des TPF en passe de prendre son envol". swissinfo (in French). 18 March 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  21. ats/Vincent Cherpillod (20 September 2019). "Fribourg inaugure le nouvel écrin qui accueille ses transports publics". rts.ch (in French). Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  22. Théo Chavaillaz/hend (6 March 2018). "Une application pour simplifier les voyages en transports publics". RTS.ch (in French). Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  23. "Billet SMS pour les transports publics fribourgeois". Le Temps (in French). 23 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  24. Andres, Laura (October 2018). "Des navettes pour construire le futur" (PDF). ATE Magazine (in French). p. 14. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  25. "Vincent Ducrot to be new CEO of SBB". SBB.ch. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  26. Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) (10 December 2019). "Nouveau directeur des CFF: prise de position du DETEC". www.uvek.admin.ch (in French). Retrieved 7 February 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. Sieber, Frank; Gerny, Daniel; Aschwanden, Erich (4 September 2019). "SBB-Chef Meyer tritt zurück – Verkehrsministerin Sommaruga wusste es schon im Frühling". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  28. Felber-Eisele, Philipp (11 December 2019). "Pannenzug: Neuer SBB-Chef gibt sich selbstkritisch" ["Breakdown Train": the new SBB-chief shows himself self-critically]. Tages-Anzeiger (in German). ISSN 1422-9994. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  29. Vuichard, Florence (20 January 2020). "Neuer SBB-Chef Vincent Ducrot: Der Bähnler". Handelszeitung (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  30. "En pleine crise du coronavirus, le patron des CFF tire sa révérence". Bilan (in French). AWP/ATS. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  31. Wuthrich, Bernard (24 April 2020). "Transports publics, le casse-tête du déconfinement en Suisse". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  32. Wuthrich, Bernard (10 September 2020). "Vincent Ducrot, patron des CFF: "Il faudra du temps pour que les recettes retrouvent leur niveau antérieur"". Le Temps (in French). Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  33. "Interview avec Vincent Ducrot, directeur des Transports publics fribourgeois (TPF) «Notre monde sera bien différent dans dix à quinze ans". voev.ch (in French). Focus TP, Magazine annuel. 2018–2019. pp. 15–18. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  34. co-author Ducrot, Vincent (1996). Information Engineering in der Praxis. Konzepte und Strategien zur software-Eigenentwicklung, Frankfurt a. Main, Campus Verlag, 21. août 1996, 217 p. Campus Verlag. ISBN 3593355957.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.