Gwendoline Cazenave
European high-speed rail operator Eurostar Group has appointed rail industry veteran Gwendoline Cazenave as its new CEO from 1 October.
Cazenave, who has 20 years of experience in the rail industry, will succeed Jacques Damas, who has been CEO of Eurostar since October 2020.
She will take over the group as it completes the merger between the Eurostar and Thalys high-speed train operators, which was cleared by the European Commission earlier this year.
France’s state-owned rail company SNCF owns a controlling shareholding in both Eurostar and Thalys, with the brands set to be merged under the Eurostar name.
The company said that Cazenave, who has previously held executive roles at SNCF, would bring “considerable expertise, energy and vision to make Eurostar Group and European high-speed rail a success for customers and colleagues”.
Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, and Alain Krakovitch, chairman of Eurostar Group’s board, said in a joint statement: “We have complete confidence in Gwendoline Cazenave to lead the business, continuing the positive journey of recovery put in place by Jacques Damas.
“With her strong experience, Cazenave will continue to successfully bring together Eurostar and Thalys, promoting the development of rail transport in Europe and creating a business which will meet the growing demand for sustainable mobility.”
SNCF has ambitions for the enlarged Eurostar Group to carry 30 million passengers annually within 10 years under the single Eurostar brand, which will be the largest international high-speed network in western Europe.
During the past two years, Cazenave has been a partner at management consultancy Oliver Wyman, where she specialised in the French and European transport and services markets.