Evelyn Palla to take over as Chair of the Management Board and CEO as successor to Richard Lutz. The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG appointed her as the new Chair of the Management Board and CEO effective October 1, 2025.
This means that an internal candidate is given preference over external candidates, who would certainly have needed more time to familiarise themselves with the complex issues facing the Group than Evelyn Palla. She was born in the South Tyrol region of northern Italy in 1973 and began her career at Infineon Technologies AG in 1997. In 2003, she joined E.ON AG, where she worked in Munich, Cologne and Milan. In 2011, Palla moved to ÖBB, Austrian Federal Railways, in Vienna. She became Member of the Board for Regional Transport at ÖBB Personenverkehr AG in 2015. From this time onward, she also held the position of Chair of the Supervisory Board of ÖBB Postbus AG. Palla started at Deutsche Bahn in February 2019 as the CFO of DB Fernverkehr AG. In July 2022, she was appointed Member of the Board for Regional Transport at Deutsche Bahn AG.
On August 14, 2025, Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Werner Gatzer and Chairman of the Management Board and CEO Richard Lutz had reached an amicable agreement to terminate the latter’s contract prematurely. It was agreed that Richard Lutz would remain in the top position until a successor was found.
23.09.2025
