ÖBB seeks successor to CEO Andreas Matthä

Austria’s national railway company ÖBB is seeking a successor to long-serving CEO Andreas Matthä, ORF reported on Friday. His term ends on June 30, 2027, after 11 years at the top of the group.

The ÖBB is also expanding its executive board with a chief operating officer position as part of a planned structural reform. Applications for both posts are open until October 12, 2026.

For the CEO role, the company is seeking leaders with several years of experience at a mobility company, business expertise and international experience. The selection of candidates is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

In future, the board will consist of the CEO, Chief Financial Officer Manuela Waldner and a COO. Waldner’s term runs until June 2028. The COO will oversee railway operations from timetable planning to train deployment, as well as IT management.

Structural reform and orderly handover

Supervisory board chair Brigitte Ederer said the planned board structure was driven by the challenges ahead and the group’s ongoing structural reform. These include rising passenger numbers, increasing pressure on the network and the growing importance of artificial intelligence, she said.

The changes are intended to strengthen the role of the ÖBB holding company within the group. Ederer said Matthä had already begun the transformation and that advertising the new positions in good time would allow him to develop the structures further with his successor and ensure a handover.

Matthä has led the ÖBB since 2016. His contract was extended in December 2025 until the end of June 2027. Since the beginning of 2026, he has also chaired the supervisory board of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG.