About us

Who we are

WHO WE ARE

About Our Association
  1. The Alliance of Passenger Rail Companies (ALLRAIL) is the global non-profit association (NGO) of independent passenger rail companies.
  2. Based out of Brussels, Belgium, ALLRAIL has the status of an official representative body for the rail sector since 2019. Click here to consult ALLRAIL's statutes.
  3. More competition has been proven to lower fares, improve service quality, increase frequencies and drive modal shift to rail, for the benefit of the environment.

MISSION

ALLRAIL Seeks Fair Competition And Market Opening 
  1. The current modal share of passenger rail does not suffice to achieve global climate goals.
  2. Passenger rail must become more innovative and attractive than other less sustainable modes of transport. The solution is to introduce non-discriminatory conditions and real competition.
  3. In the limited examples of rail market opening so far, it has led to positive results: better quality, reduced fares, new jobs, greater efficiency, and modal shift to rail.

CHALLENGE

Passenger Rail Should Be the Backbone Of A Multimodal Network
  1. Discrimination against independent passenger rail companies frightens desperately needed private investment away from the rail sector.
  2. Such discrimination mainly concerns access to the neutral infrastructure of passenger rail (tracks, rolling stock, ticketing systems & more).
  3. All competitors should have fair access to this infrastructure. Competition should instead be about which company makes the best use of it, for the greatest benefit of the passengers.

VISION

‘Rail Transport As A Service’, Driven By Passenger Needs
  1. Our vision resonates with the EU 4th Railway Package: encouraging competition and innovation the passenger rail sector.
  2. Our members have demonstrated that it has been possible to introduce new services, improve the rail ticket booking experience and consequently achieve modal shift to rail.
  3. Now we need to be able to roll out these examples on a European and worldwide scale to achieve a truly integrated, competitive, and efficient rail network.
   

For the Future of Passenger Rail

Secretariat

Nick Brooks

Secretary General
nick.brooks@allrail.org +32 472 37 10 22
Nick has a background in trying to make passenger rail more competitive. Previously, he was Head of EU Affairs at the online rail ticket retail platform Trainline. Prior to that, he spent several years as Head of Sales & Business Development at the startup long distance passenger rail operator Hamburg-Cologne Express (‘HKX’) in Germany. Nick gained his first experience in competitive public transport by working for the low-cost airline Frontier Airlines in Denver, USA. A dual national (German and British), he has an MBA from Purdue University, Indiana, USA and an MSc Finance from Colorado University in Denver.

John Thomas

Policy Director
john.thomas@allrail.org +44 7979 851461
John has a transport policy, advocacy and regulatory background. He has over 30 years experience in the development and implementation of policy, legislation and regulation in the UK, India, South East Asia and the Middle East. He worked for the UK rail regulator for 10 years where he was an executive board director. He then went to set up the new rail regulator in Saudi Arabia before moving to Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the national railway in the UAE. He returned to the UK in 2017 as Director of Policy at the Rail Delivery Group before joining Rail Partners as Director of Policy, representing private sector owning groups and freight operators.    

Guillem Ochoa i Pérez

Legal Officer
guillem.ochoa@allrail.org +32 479 07 08 06
Guillem is an antitrust-qualified lawyer specialising in railway regulatory affairs. Prior to joining ALLRAIL, he studied Law and Business Administration. He gained professional experience at an antitrust lawfirm, as a Blue Book Trainee in the Railway Market Unit of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), at the Community of European Railways (CER). Guillem is fluent in Catalan, Spanish, English, Italian and learning French.

Eoin Rollins

Policy Officer
eoin.rollins@allrail.org +32 478 11 39 76
Eoin has a background in European law, public relations, and international development. He previously worked in Geneva, Switzerland for an international NGO, liaising between UN agencies and civil society, and supporting development projects across the globe. Eoin has studied in the UK and the Netherlands, with a bachelors in politics and international relations and a masters in European Law.  He is French and Irish, speaks both English and French fluently, and is learning Spanish.

Soizick Menais

Operations Manager
soizick.menais@allrail.org +32 495 166 165
Soizick has over 30 years of experience in administrative management across international organisations, NGOs, industry, and banking in Belgium and France. She is French and speaks French and English.

Arthur Kamminga

ALLRAIL Benelux Representative
arthur.kamminga@allrail.org
Arthur is a legal expert who describes himself as a “market regulation activist” committed to the development of a fair and competitive European rail market. He gained experience with consultancy on public transport tenders and contributed to the opening of the long distance bus market, before shifting his attention to the opening of the Dutch and European rail markets and enforcement of the PSO Regulation. Arthur is a regulation expert, consulting for various companies in a competitive public transport market, and has master degrees in both Economic Geography and Dutch Law & Governance.

Board of directors

The Board of Directors is elected by a General Assembly of member company representatives. The Board meets four times a year and has ultimate decision-making powers for the management and administration of the Association.

Elmer van Buuren

President ALLRAIL
Founder, Managing Director | European Sleeper
Elmer van Buuren has over 25 years of experience in rail and public transport. After 11 years at Netherlands Railways (NS) and a brief stint in consulting, he founded European Sleeper, a private night train operator. As managing director, he leads future projects, network development, industry collaborations, and public and regulatory affairs. He is active in ALLRAIL because he believes competition benefits passengers, while advocating a constructive approach to grow the entire European rail sector.

Erik Hellners

Vice-President ALLRAIL
General Counsel | MTR Nordic Group
MTR is regarded as one of the world's leading railway operators for safety, reliability, customer service and cost efficiency. As a new entrant on a market with high barriers to entry, it is vital that the rules are transparent, reasonable and applied in a non-discriminatory fashion. MTR strives to achieve a level playing field in order to be able to compete with the old incumbent and often state-owned rail operators in Europe. Erik Hellners is a corporate and competition law attorney with substantial in-house legal experience with a strong commercial focus.

Marco Andersson

Board Member
Snälltåget

Dominic Booth

Board Director
Transport UK Group

Tom Benedek Buchhold

Board Director
FlixTrain

JUDr. Josef Chýle, Ph.D.

Board Director
REGIOJET

Heinz Grossmann

Board Director
CREDITAS Mobility

Clare Kingswood

Board Director
First Rail Holdings Ltd

Dr Chris Peaker

Board Director
The Go-Ahead Group plc

Thomas Posch

Board Director
Westbahn | Spokesman of the Board Rail Holding AG

Alvaro Ungurean

Board Member
Trip.com Group