The BVG management team has been complete again since the beginning of the year. After the new CEO, Henrik Falk, spent the first few days travelling around the operations of Germany’s largest public transport company and talking to employees, the internal welcoming of the new Board member took place today at the BVG headquarters in Mitte. Together with his fellow board members Jenny Zeller (Human Resources and Social Affairs) and Dr Rolf Erfurt (Operations), Falk will be in charge of BVG’s future fortunes. In April 2023, the Supervisory Board decided to dismiss predecessor Eva Keienkamp with immediate effect, who in turn succeeded Sigrid Nikutta in October 2020. We reported here:
“I am looking forward to working together with Henrik Falk and I am sure that we will build on the close cooperation and excellent communication between the Supervisory Board and the Management Board,” said Franziska Giffey, Chairwoman of the BVG Supervisory Board and Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. “Our joint task is to make Berlin fit for the future in the coming decades, to continue working on the vision of the express metropolis and to implement the mobility transition. Henrik Falk has already shown in Hamburg what is possible in terms of route expansion, the switch to e-mobility and digitalisation. All of this is all the more important in the capital and for BVG as one of Berlin’s largest employers with over one million regular customers. I am sure that he will tackle the tasks ahead with great enthusiasm and passion and, together with his two fellow board members Dr Rolf Erfurt and Jenny Zeller, will ensure a trusting corporate culture with the 15,830 employees.”
“Berlin and BVG are a big piece of home for me and a real affair of the heart,” said the new CEO. “Together with the Management Board team and all BVG employees, we want to massively advance Berlin as a mobility metropolis. And only together will we be able to overcome the challenges we are currently facing. I hope that we will tackle the major tasks with a lot of vigour, but also with the necessary lightness and optimism.”
Chief Human Resources Officer Jenny Zeller was delighted: “Henrik Falk is not only returning as a proven expert and top manager, but also as a person who stands for a successful BVG with humour, courage and drive. He is not only the father of the financially solid foundation on which we still stand today. He was also one of the driving forces behind the successful transformation of BVG’s image into a cool company, from which we still benefit as an employer today. The yellow heart and the hashtag #becauseweloveyou probably wouldn’t exist without him.”
“I am delighted that our trio is now complete again,” said Chief Operating Officer Dr Rolf Erfurt. “Every day, I experience the passion and commitment with which the many thousands of colleagues in the company keep their city moving, even in tough times. With this great team and the Management Board, which is now complete again, we will master the challenges and become the driving force behind the mobility revolution – I am convinced of that. Together for BVG and for Berlin.”
The new CEO is an “old acquaintance” for BVG. Before taking over as CEO of Hamburger Hochbahn AG eight years ago, the law graduate held various management positions at Germany’s largest public transport company. Among other things, he was responsible for the legal department and the BVG holding company. From 2008 to 2015, the Berlin-born lawyer headed BVG’s finance and sales department as a member of the Management Board.
In 2016, Henrik Falk moved to the top of the Hamburg public transport company, where he has developed the Hamburg-Takt, among other things, in recent years. At the Alster, he focused on a massive service offensive, the expansion and further development of new, digital forms of mobility and a clear position on sustainability. He is involved nationally and internationally in the relevant industry associations as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and as a member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and advises the German government as a member of the National Platform for New Mobility.
05.01.2024
