Harald Eller

Harald co-founded Global Rail Group in 2021 as the CEO after being part of Senior Management in the Plasser & Theurer Group for 25 years.
He worked in senior management positions in the railway industry for nearly 30 years, shaping the companies profiles, actively designing strategies, and creating strong international teams. His education in finance with early steps in international auditing and consulting, combined with his long-lasting  career in a high-tech global environment, allows Harald to lead the challenge of creating the first ever knowledge provider group of companies for railway superstructure (Global Rail Group).
During his career he has founded 3 start-ups, taught Managing Accounting as an associated professor at the Instituto de Empresa, been member of numerous Boards of Directors at Plasser & Theurer Group and in his spare time supports NGOs for  kids and women health and education.

Gabrielle Costigan

Gabrielle brings 20 years of experience to Global Rail in a range of different industries such as Manufacturing, Production and Technology. She started her career in 1999 with a  global, international leader in consultancy company with headquarters in the United Sates.
Between 2007-2018, she then spent 10 years with an oil and gas super major, where she held numerous leadership positions in  Austria and the Middle East.
In 2018, she was the Managing Director of the first innovation hub in Vienna, Austria (weXelerate) which opened its doors in late 2017. Gabrielle joined Global Rail Group as the COO in 2021.

Gordon Bachinsky

Mr. Bachinsky has been the President of Advanced Rail Management since 1990. Gordon is skilled at the management of employees and the supervision of large projects and contracts. A recognized leader in the field of rail grinding strategies and the field of wheel/rail interaction, Gordon is called upon to help direct an industry in search of practical long-term solutions on the cutting edge of technology and research.

Mr. Bachinsky brings more than 45 years of railway and rail transit experience to the ARM team. Much of his experience relates to the management of rail grinding programs and overall optimization of the wheel/rail interface. Having worked with many railways and rail transit systems in North America, Mr. Bachinsky has first-hand knowledge of how to design and implement an effective turnkey vehicle/track interaction strategy.

Karsten Graf

Karsten has 25 years+ experience in the Professional Services industry in Senior Management roles in various areas (IT, Engineering, HR Services).He worked in large global organizations and start-up environment and is passionate about developing new businesses and organizations. Karsten has been with the Global Rail Group since March 2023 and in charge of the Business Lines Academy and Recruiting Services.

Jan Mys

Jan has more than 28 years of experience in Infrabel, having held various positions such as Track Design Manager, General Manager at Asset Management Direction and was responsible for Budgeting & Controlling. Jan is also a Guest Professor at the Ghent University for Railways since 2011.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2021 as the Director of Global Rail Consulting & Engineering.

Detlev Suchanek

Detlev Suchanek is Director GR Media, a division of Global Rail Group.  He is the founder of the predecessor company of today’s Global Rail Media in 2017

He has more than 40 years of experience in the B2B media business and in the rail and public transport industry. From 1990 to 2017, he managed the Technology and Transport Division of the international DVV Media Group. 

Detlev is responsible for curating the knowledge base, for media material and for media services.

Florian Polterauer

Florian brings more than 12 years experience as Business Development Manager at Plasser & Theurer and joined Global Rail Group in July 2021 right at the conception of the company.

Viktoria Salzbrunn

Viktoria has over 15 years of experience in  accounting and finance.
She has joined Global Rail Group in September 2022.

Doris Wolfesberger

Doris has 13 years of experience in Banking and Consulting industry. She holds a Master’s in Finance, Accounting & Taxation.  From her various roles as subject-matter expert, project and team lead, she brings a lot of knowledge to the general management and operations topics.
She joined Global Rail Group in May 2022 as Head of Operations.

John Schaefer

John brings over 35 years of combined experience in the areas of Railroad Technologies, Industrial Maintenance, Instructional. He is retired from the US Army and had worked as an Automotive Manufacturing Engineer for IMS Gear and as a Plasser American Field Service Representative. He currently holds a Master of Project Management and a B.S. in Technical Management and is an active member of AREMA Committee 27. John joined Global Rail Group in 2019.

Bharat Sharma

Bharat has over 14 years of experience in a wide range of industries from medical devices, aerospace and  off highway/earth moving equipments in various roles from engineering to business operations ensuring  business growth and running efficient business operations. He has a Masters & Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and  joined Global Rail Group in April 2023.

Klaus Liebwald

Klaus has more than 25 years of professional experience in the areas of maintenance and development of railroad infrastructure. His focus of the last years was international project management, asset management, lecturer/trainer, support and preparation of certifications.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2023.

Andreas Oberhauser

Andreas has more than 14 years of experience at Wiener Linien, where he held leading positions such as Head of the Department of Infrastructure Inspection. From 2011 he was responsible for the inspection of bridges, tunnels and stations, and was the Head of Permanent Way from 2018 onwards.
Andreas is also a lecturer at the TU Wien and FH St.Pölten on railway maintenance.  He joined Global Rail Group at the end of 2021.

Teever Handal

Teever has more than 38 years working experience in the rail industry. He spent 11 years with the Association of American Railroads at the Transportation Test Center helping develop vehicle dynamic simulation software, performing vehicle/track interaction and wheel/rail interaction research. He worked for a Progressive Rail Technologies providing truck performance and wheel impact detectors, and consulting on derailment analysis and vehicle/track interaction studies. Since 2014 Teever has been working for ARM in data analysis, as a wheel/rail interaction specialist, and technical expert in vehicle/track interaction. During his career he has provided assistance to clients in North America, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and India.

Frank Buchmann

Frank has more than 22 years of experience in the railway infrastructure sector and has held various positions, including Interoparability Expert and leadership roles. Frank joint Global Rail Group in 2023 as Senior Expert of Global Certifications and Regulations.

Albert Hayr

Albert has more than 25 years of experience in software, IT and data projects as well as designing of comprehensive solutions for various industries, including implementation and operations.  He works as a multidisciplinary architect in the areas of enterprise, cloud, data, IT, systems and software. He joined Global Rail Group in October 2022.

Meenakshi Bhattacharya

Meenakshi has over 11 years of experience in Brand Communication and Marketing. With a Masters in Advertising & Brand Communication and an international, multicultural background, she brings a global and adaptive perspective to the Communications team. She joined Global Rail Group in 2022.

Elena Crespo Domingo

Elena has more than 6 years experience in the railway infrastructure sector, including different roles ranging from new line design consultancy in her previous experience at Plasser & Theurer, where she was part of the Technology Center Purkersdorf and was involved in the development of smart systems for the evaluation of the infrastructure condition.
She has an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and did part of her studies in RWTH Aachen University.
Elena joined Global Rail Group in September 2021 and worked on projects for the optimization and digitalization of railway superstructure asset management, with a strong focus on track geometry and ballast bed condition.

Christian Greifelt

Christian has 14 years of work experience and  was most recently employed at Plasser Robel Services /Deutsche Plasser in the role of responsible welding supervisor and deputy non-destructive testing (NDT) supervisor.
He is a mechanical engineer (B.Eng.) with further training as a welding engineer (IWE) and has various qualifications in welding and non-destructive testing in the field of rail vehicle maintenance.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2022.

Sean Regehr

Sean has 10 years of railroad experience. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering and an M.Sc. in Transportation Engineering from the University of Manitoba, and is an active member of AREMA Committee 2.
He joined ARM/Global Rail Group in 2016.

Carsten Baumgart

Carsten brings more than 20 years experience in the rail industry in various roles as  a trainer, front cabin operator, tamping operator, machinist and locomotive driver, out of which, he worked for  6 years as a tamping operator and 15 years as a trainer. He previously worked for companies such as Swietelsky Germany, Krebs Gleisbau GmbH and Leonhard Weiss.
He joined Global Rail Academy in April 2021 as a trainer for front cabin operator, tamper and switch tamper certification with UEEIV.

Roger Campbell

Roger has more than 8 years of experience in different Railway and Transport companies. He was part of Track Engineer Department in ADIF Argentina and has 4 years experience as Senior Consultant in ACyA participating in large-scale projects. From 2021 he was the  Railway Track Coordinator for the Rail Baltic Project at IDOM in Spain.
He joined Global Rail Group as a Senior Consultant in May 2022.

Pelayo Escobar

Pelayo brings over 5 years of experience as a Project Manager Signalling at Liege Tram & Tel Aviv Tram (CAF Signalling) as well as a Global Solutions Engineer Manager at Thales. He joined Global Rail Group as a Senior Consultant in December 2022.

Kathrin Gabert

Kathrin has 11 years of experience working on various projects in the fields of studies, mobility concepts, traffic models and guidance systems.
She studied Business Administration with focus on Transport/Logistics and Market Research at Vienna University of Economics and Business. 
She joined Global Rail Group in September 2021.

Raphael Marotta

More than 12 years of experience within Heavy Haul Railways, covering positions such as Railway Expert and Senior Engineer being responsible for vehicle/track interaction , track geometry monitoring as well as maintenance strategy. He also gives lectures at IPOG and is a researcher at Instituto Militar de Engenharia. Raphael joined Global Rail Group in 2023.

Martin Murowski

Martin’s first contact with track construction machines was in 2009, when he was working for NEWAG in Oberhausen. After 9 years there and some experience abroad, he switched to Deutsche Plasser as project manager and estimator. Martin joined Global Rail Group in February 2022.

Xavier Rodriguez Somoza

Xavier has  more than 14 years of experience in the railway sector, from site works, maintenance and project management to engineering.
He worked for 6 years as a Track Maintenance and Works Manager at RATP (Paris, France) in all systems (commuter rail, metro and tram), and as O&M Engineer at CAF (Spain) on urban rail projects with focus on track maintenance.
Xavier has an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of A Coruña, having also studied in France and Scotland. He joined Global Rail Group in 2022.

Beatriz Alonso Vázquez

Beatriz has more than 15 years of experience in Railway Systems, from engineering design to site works.

She worked as Electrification Design manager during construction works in several Spanish High-Speed lines. The last 6 years she has been working in High Speed 2 in Birmingham (UK) as Overhead Contact System Engineer.

Beatriz has an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICAI).

Brad Kerchof

Brad is currently working part-time for ARM/Global Rail Group with the emphasis on projects involving track maintenance and inspection and brings 42 years of work experience with two Class 1 railroads – Conrail and Norfolk Southern. His first 32 years were with Maintenance-of-Way, including assignments like Division Engineer in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Birmingham, where he was responsible for track and bridge inspection, maintenance and development of capital programs. During his last 10 years with NS, he served as the Director of Research & Tests (track geometry testing, derailment investigation, wheel-rail performance research, mechanical and track failure analysis and materials testing). 
Since 2012 he has been an annual presenter at the Wheel-Rail Interface conference.  

Jack Lindquist

Jack Lindquist has a wealth of practical rail experience, spanning over 40 years. His work with ARM is primarily concerned with all quality issues related to rail profile grinding practices.
As a welder foreman, Jack was responsible for all aspects of project – scheduling, team training, quality control, troubleshooting and problem resolution, and contractor relations. In addition, his extensive background in heavy equipment operation provides the ARM team with a high level of expertise in operational safety of different types of large equipment.
ARM makes extensive use of his skills and experience as Senior Rail Maintenance Specialist. He is responsible for oversight of rail profile grinding operations, as well as implementing new wheel and rail profile maintenance and repair techniques incorporating the use of range vision (laser strobe and camera) optical measurement systems. 

Allen Pierson

Allen has been a member of AWS for 45 years and a member of Arema Committee 4 for 40 years. He has Certified AWS railroader welding practices, is an AWS visual weld inspector,and works as  a Level 2 UT operator. For 40 years he worked on 3 railroads Penn Central Conrail Norfolk Southern. Allen is a welder instructor for ARM since 2014.

Jeff Schweisthal

Before joining ARM, Jeff worked for Loram Maintenance of Way Inc. for 15 years, operating and maintaining rail grinding equipment.  Since joining ARM in 2005, he has managed turnkey rail grinding programs on many transit systems including San Jose (VTA), San Diego (Trolley), Edmonton Transit, Dallas (Trinity Railway Express), Boston (MBTA), SCRRA/Metrolink, BART, and others.  His background in the operations and maintenance of rail grinding equipment enables him to determine the capabilities and assess the performance of various grinding units, and to effectively troubleshoot problems in the field.
He has an extensive knowledge of rail grinding pattern design, pattern application, grinding templates, optimized grinding speeds, and various QA/QC functions that impact grinding efficiency and performance.  He has served as a General Superintendent, Grind Superintendent, Maintenance Lead and Operator of Loram Grinding Machines – in addition to experience with Special Grinder Projects and Grinder Overhauls. 

Pablo Merayo

Pablo has worked for 3 years developing functional, constructive and capacity railways projects at TRN Taryet. During his last years studying civil engineering, he used to work as an intern at Carandini, a firm specialized in lighting projects. He joined  Global Rail Group in April 2023.

Alexandra Schöner

Alexandra has 15 years of experience as an editor and started in a manga publishing house. She has a  Master of Arts  (M.A.) degree in Japanese and Romance Studies from University of Heidelberg (Germany).
She joined the predecessor company of  Global Rail Group in 2018.

Sabine Braun

Sabine has over 30 years of experience in the marketing and publishing sector.
She has joined the predecessor company of Global Rail Group in 2017.

David Pollak

David brings 4 years of experience working as sysadmin and service technician in multiple enviroments in his role as the IT-Administrator of Global Rail Group since April 2023.

Martina Rossegger

Martina has over 10 years of experience in management assistant functions in different companies. She worked at Plasser Ibérica for 7 years as management assistant and joined Global Rail Group in 2021.

Andrea Cristina Castro Mora

Andrea has over 17 years of professional experience in the Administrative and Finance field, having worked at the American Embassy in Bogota Colombia. She has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration with Specialization in Finance and, recently she finished a program in Business, Accounting and Management at the  Red River College Polytech in Winnipeg, Canada.
She has joined Global Rail Group /ARM in November 2022.

Elisabeth Papathanassopoulou

Elisabeth has over 17 years of professional experience in diverse business sectors. She joined Global Rail Group in April 2022.

Casslynn Ennis

Casslynn has over 5 years experience in computer-aided engineering and mechanical design/maintenance. She graduated with a diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology in 2022. She joined  Global Rail Group/ARM in February 2021.

Henry Kweens

Henry has 20 years professional experience with proprietary rail recognition software and on-rail specialized data collection. He is responsible for training of  new team members and joined ARM/Global Rail Group in March 2003.

Shane Kweens

Shane has been involved in data collection, data processing and analysis of various data types for the past 20 years with ARM/Global Rail Group.   He uses this information to support railroad maintenance managers and internal grinding staff in  planning corrective and preventive rail maintenance.  He is also experienced in training internal and external clients on proprietary rail profile analysis software.  Shane holds a Diploma in Business Administration and Marketing. 

Steve Gainey

Steve has over 10 years experience in the rail industry that ranges from rail car mechanic to frog/track welding and repair. Between 2007-2011 he was the Field Specialist and Road Foreman at G.A.T.X. and then at Bankhead/Holland LP (2011-2018) as Frog welding assist/welding foreman.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2021 as the  Field Specialist. 

George Senterfitt III

George brings over 9 years of experience in the rail industry. He began is career in railway industry at LORAM and worked his way up from a general labourer to crew chief. He studied the task of rail grinding to an extend where he was able to increase the life of the rail by removing the defects while maintaining the shape of the head of the rail.
He is a rail maintenance specialist at Global Rail Group/ARM.

Snježana Nedić

Snježana has a Bachelor’s degree in Traffic Engineering on Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering in Doboj. She joined Global Rail Group in February 2023.

Jürgen Poscher

Jürgen is a  state-certified mechanical engineering technician and HWK business economist with more than 30 years of experience in the field of hydraulic drive and control technology, as well as many years as a hydraulics trainer. He joined Global Rail Group in March 2020.

Nataša Tatić

Nataša studied at the Faculty of Technology-Chemical Engineering and  joined Global Rail Group in February 2023. 

Tyler Trahan

Tyler has 14 years of experience split between railroad operations and museum education. He started at the bottom of both fields and worked his way up to leadership positions including lead educator, passenger train conductor, and train dispatcher. Tyler is a contributor to Trains Magazine and a developer of the open-source video game OpenTTD.

Oliver Fabrizius

Oliver has been Assistant Trainer at Global Rail Academy in Leverkusen since March 2022.  Before he started working here, he finished his training as mechatronics engineer at Deutsche Plasser (Plasser Robel Services) and thus has experience in the railway industry since 2018. 

Christina Lyons

Christina has 7 years of experience as a management assistant in business and banking and 15 years of experience teaching in the U.S. She taught English Education at Austin Peay State University, Tennessee, and at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois. Christina received her PhD in English from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, FTSK Germersheim in 2003, her Master of Arts in Education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL, U.S. in 2007, and her Master of Arts in Translation from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, FTSK Germersheim in 1998.
She joined Global Rail Group in April 2021 as an Assistant to Training Area.

Igor Lukic

Igor, after completing his degree at the University of Traffic in Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, joined Global Rail Group in February 2023 as a trainee for Technical Services.

Jessika Röhl

Jessika is studying Media Design at the International University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, while she works in the field of content creation for Global Rail Academy.
She joined Global Rail Group in October 2022.

Hannah Strippel

Hannah brings her Media Technology studies into the field of content and design creation, while gaining practical experience within Global Rail Academy.
She joined Global Rail Group in March 2022.

Harald Eller

Harald co-founded Global Rail Group in 2021 as the CEO after being part of Senior Management in the Plasser & Theurer Group for 25 years.
He worked in senior management positions in the railway industry for nearly 30 years, shaping the companies profiles, actively designing strategies, and creating strong international teams. His education in finance with early steps in international auditing and consulting, combined with his long-lasting  career in a high-tech global environment, allows Harald to lead the challenge of creating the first ever knowledge provider group of companies for railway superstructure (Global Rail Group).
During his career he has founded 3 start-ups, taught Managing Accounting as an associated professor at the Instituto de Empresa, been member of numerous Boards of Directors at Plasser & Theurer Group and in his spare time supports NGOs for  kids and women health and education.

Gabrielle Costigan

Gabrielle brings 20 years of experience to Global Rail in a range of different industries such as Manufacturing, Production and Technology. She started her career in 1999 with a  global, international leader in consultancy company with headquarters in the United Sates.
Between 2007-2018, she then spent 10 years with an oil and gas super major, where she held numerous leadership positions in  Austria and the Middle East.
In 2018, she was the Managing Director of the first innovation hub in Vienna, Austria (weXelerate) which opened its doors in late 2017. Gabrielle joined Global Rail Group as the COO in 2021.

Gordon Bachinsky

Mr. Bachinsky has been the President of Advanced Rail Management since 1990. Gordon is skilled at the management of employees and the supervision of large projects and contracts. A recognized leader in the field of rail grinding strategies and the field of wheel/rail interaction, Gordon is called upon to help direct an industry in search of practical long-term solutions on the cutting edge of technology and research.

Mr. Bachinsky brings more than 45 years of railway and rail transit experience to the ARM team. Much of his experience relates to the management of rail grinding programs and overall optimization of the wheel/rail interface. Having worked with many railways and rail transit systems in North America, Mr. Bachinsky has first-hand knowledge of how to design and implement an effective turnkey vehicle/track interaction strategy.

Florian Polterauer

Florian brings more than 12 years experience as Business Development Manager at Plasser & Theurer and joined Global Rail Group in July 2021 right at the conception of the company.

Viktoria Salzbrunn

Viktoria has over 15 years of experience in  accounting and finance.
She has joined Global Rail Group in September 2022.

Doris Wolfesberger

Doris has 13 years of experience in Banking and Consulting industry. She holds a Master’s in Finance, Accounting & Taxation.  From her various roles as subject-matter expert, project and team lead, she brings a lot of knowledge to the general management and operations topics.
She joined Global Rail Group in May 2022 as Head of Operations.

Bharat Sharma

Bharat has over 14 years of experience in a wide range of industries from medical devices, aerospace and  off highway/earth moving equipments in various roles from engineering to business operations ensuring  business growth and running efficient business operations. He has a Masters & Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and  joined Global Rail Group in April 2023.

Meenakshi Bhattacharya

Meenakshi has over 11 years of experience in Brand Communication and Marketing. With a Masters in Advertising & Brand Communication and an international, multicultural background, she brings a global and adaptive perspective to the Communications team. She joined Global Rail Group in 2022.

David Pollak

David brings 4 years of experience working as sysadmin and service technician in multiple enviroments in his role as the IT-Administrator of Global Rail Group since April 2023.

Martina Rossegger

Martina has over 10 years of experience in management assistant functions in different companies. She worked at Plasser Ibérica for 7 years as management assistant and joined Global Rail Group in 2021.

Andrea Cristina Castro Mora

Andrea has over 17 years of professional experience in the Administrative and Finance field, having worked at the American Embassy in Bogota Colombia. She has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration with Specialization in Finance and, recently she finished a program in Business, Accounting and Management at the  Red River College Polytech in Winnipeg, Canada.
She has joined Global Rail Group /ARM in November 2022.

Elisabeth Papathanassopoulou

Elisabeth has over 17 years of professional experience in diverse business sectors. She joined Global Rail Group in April 2022.

Jan Mys

Jan has more than 28 years of experience in Infrabel, having held various positions such as Track Design Manager, General Manager at Asset Management Direction and was responsible for Budgeting & Controlling. Jan is also a Guest Professor at the Ghent University for Railways since 2011.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2021 as the Director of Global Rail Consulting & Engineering.

Klaus Liebwald

Klaus has more than 25 years of professional experience in the areas of maintenance and development of railroad infrastructure. His focus of the last years was international project management, asset management, lecturer/trainer, support and preparation of certifications.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2023.

Andreas Oberhauser

Andreas has more than 14 years of experience at Wiener Linien, where he held leading positions such as Head of the Department of Infrastructure Inspection. From 2011 he was responsible for the inspection of bridges, tunnels and stations, and was the Head of Permanent Way from 2018 onwards.
Andreas is also a lecturer at the TU Wien and FH St.Pölten on railway maintenance.  He joined Global Rail Group at the end of 2021.

Teever Handal

Teever has more than 38 years working experience in the rail industry. He spent 11 years with the Association of American Railroads at the Transportation Test Center helping develop vehicle dynamic simulation software, performing vehicle/track interaction and wheel/rail interaction research. He worked for a Progressive Rail Technologies providing truck performance and wheel impact detectors, and consulting on derailment analysis and vehicle/track interaction studies. Since 2014 Teever has been working for ARM in data analysis, as a wheel/rail interaction specialist, and technical expert in vehicle/track interaction. During his career he has provided assistance to clients in North America, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and India.

Frank Buchmann

Frank has more than 22 years of experience in the railway infrastructure sector and has held various positions, including Interoparability Expert and leadership roles. Frank joint Global Rail Group in 2023 as Senior Expert of Global Certifications and Regulations.

Albert Hayr

Albert has more than 25 years of experience in software, IT and data projects as well as designing of comprehensive solutions for various industries, including implementation and operations.  He works as a multidisciplinary architect in the areas of enterprise, cloud, data, IT, systems and software. He joined Global Rail Group in October 2022.

Elena Crespo Domingo

Elena has more than 6 years experience in the railway infrastructure sector, including different roles ranging from new line design consultancy in her previous experience at Plasser & Theurer, where she was part of the Technology Center Purkersdorf and was involved in the development of smart systems for the evaluation of the infrastructure condition.
She has an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) and did part of her studies in RWTH Aachen University.
Elena joined Global Rail Group in September 2021 and worked on projects for the optimization and digitalization of railway superstructure asset management, with a strong focus on track geometry and ballast bed condition.

Roger Campbell

Roger has more than 8 years of experience in different Railway and Transport companies. He was part of Track Engineer Department in ADIF Argentina and has 4 years experience as Senior Consultant in ACyA participating in large-scale projects. From 2021 he was the  Railway Track Coordinator for the Rail Baltic Project at IDOM in Spain.
He joined Global Rail Group as a Senior Consultant in May 2022.

Pelayo Escobar

Pelayo brings over 5 years of experience as a Project Manager Signalling at Liege Tram & Tel Aviv Tram (CAF Signalling) as well as a Global Solutions Engineer Manager at Thales. He joined Global Rail Group as a Senior Consultant in December 2022.

Kathrin Gabert

Kathrin has 11 years of experience working on various projects in the fields of studies, mobility concepts, traffic models and guidance systems.
She studied Business Administration with focus on Transport/Logistics and Market Research at Vienna University of Economics and Business. 
She joined Global Rail Group in September 2021.

Raphael Marotta

More than 12 years of experience within Heavy Haul Railways, covering positions such as Railway Expert and Senior Engineer being responsible for vehicle/track interaction , track geometry monitoring as well as maintenance strategy. He also gives lectures at IPOG and is a researcher at Instituto Militar de Engenharia. Raphael joined Global Rail Group in 2023.

Xavier Rodriguez Somoza

Xavier has  more than 14 years of experience in the railway sector, from site works, maintenance and project management to engineering.
He worked for 6 years as a Track Maintenance and Works Manager at RATP (Paris, France) in all systems (commuter rail, metro and tram), and as O&M Engineer at CAF (Spain) on urban rail projects with focus on track maintenance.
Xavier has an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of A Coruña, having also studied in France and Scotland. He joined Global Rail Group in 2022.

Pablo Merayo

Pablo has worked for 3 years developing functional, constructive and capacity railways projects at TRN Taryet. During his last years studying civil engineering, he used to work as an intern at Carandini, a firm specialized in lighting projects. He joined  Global Rail Group in April 2023.

Beatriz Alonso Vázquez

Beatriz has more than 15 years of experience in Railway Systems, from engineering design to site works.

She worked as Electrification Design manager during construction works in several Spanish High-Speed lines. The last 6 years she has been working in High Speed 2 in Birmingham (UK) as Overhead Contact System Engineer.

Beatriz has an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICAI).

Brad Kerchof

Brad is currently working part-time for ARM/Global Rail Group with the emphasis on projects involving track maintenance and inspection and brings 42 years of work experience with two Class 1 railroads – Conrail and Norfolk Southern. His first 32 years were with Maintenance-of-Way, including assignments like Division Engineer in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Birmingham, where he was responsible for track and bridge inspection, maintenance and development of capital programs. During his last 10 years with NS, he served as the Director of Research & Tests (track geometry testing, derailment investigation, wheel-rail performance research, mechanical and track failure analysis and materials testing). 
Since 2012 he has been an annual presenter at the Wheel-Rail Interface conference.  

Jack Lindquist

Jack Lindquist has a wealth of practical rail experience, spanning over 40 years. His work with ARM is primarily concerned with all quality issues related to rail profile grinding practices.
As a welder foreman, Jack was responsible for all aspects of project – scheduling, team training, quality control, troubleshooting and problem resolution, and contractor relations. In addition, his extensive background in heavy equipment operation provides the ARM team with a high level of expertise in operational safety of different types of large equipment.
ARM makes extensive use of his skills and experience as Senior Rail Maintenance Specialist. He is responsible for oversight of rail profile grinding operations, as well as implementing new wheel and rail profile maintenance and repair techniques incorporating the use of range vision (laser strobe and camera) optical measurement systems. 

Allen Pierson

Allen has been a member of AWS for 45 years and a member of Arema Committee 4 for 40 years. He has Certified AWS railroader welding practices, is an AWS visual weld inspector,and works as  a Level 2 UT operator. For 40 years he worked on 3 railroads Penn Central Conrail Norfolk Southern. Allen is a welder instructor for ARM since 2014.

Jeff Schweisthal

Before joining ARM, Jeff worked for Loram Maintenance of Way Inc. for 15 years, operating and maintaining rail grinding equipment.  Since joining ARM in 2005, he has managed turnkey rail grinding programs on many transit systems including San Jose (VTA), San Diego (Trolley), Edmonton Transit, Dallas (Trinity Railway Express), Boston (MBTA), SCRRA/Metrolink, BART, and others.  His background in the operations and maintenance of rail grinding equipment enables him to determine the capabilities and assess the performance of various grinding units, and to effectively troubleshoot problems in the field.
He has an extensive knowledge of rail grinding pattern design, pattern application, grinding templates, optimized grinding speeds, and various QA/QC functions that impact grinding efficiency and performance.  He has served as a General Superintendent, Grind Superintendent, Maintenance Lead and Operator of Loram Grinding Machines – in addition to experience with Special Grinder Projects and Grinder Overhauls. 

Sean Regehr

Sean has 10 years of railroad experience. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering and an M.Sc. in Transportation Engineering from the University of Manitoba, and is an active member of AREMA Committee 2.
He joined ARM/Global Rail Group in 2016.

Casslynn Ennis

Casslynn has over 5 years experience in computer-aided engineering and mechanical design/maintenance. She graduated with a diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology in 2022. She joined  Global Rail Group/ARM in February 2021.

Henry Kweens

Henry has 20 years professional experience with proprietary rail recognition software and on-rail specialized data collection. He is responsible for training of  new team members and joined ARM/Global Rail Group in March 2003.

Shane Kweens

Shane has been involved in data collection, data processing and analysis of various data types for the past 20 years with ARM/Global Rail Group.   He uses this information to support railroad maintenance managers and internal grinding staff in  planning corrective and preventive rail maintenance.  He is also experienced in training internal and external clients on proprietary rail profile analysis software.  Shane holds a Diploma in Business Administration and Marketing. 

Steve Gainey

Steve has over 10 years experience in the rail industry that ranges from rail car mechanic to frog/track welding and repair. Between 2007-2011 he was the Field Specialist and Road Foreman at G.A.T.X. and then at Bankhead/Holland LP (2011-2018) as Frog welding assist/welding foreman.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2021 as the  Field Specialist. 

George Senterfitt III

George brings over 9 years of experience in the rail industry. He began is career in railway industry at LORAM and worked his way up from a general labourer to crew chief. He studied the task of rail grinding to an extend where he was able to increase the life of the rail by removing the defects while maintaining the shape of the head of the rail.
He is a rail maintenance specialist at Global Rail Group/ARM.

Detlev Suchanek

Detlev has more than 40 years of experience in the B2B media business and in the rail and public transport industry. From 1990 to 2017, he managed the Technology and Transport Division of the international DVV Media Group, including the media of Eurailpress, Railway Gazette International and Alba Urban Transportation. He has been an avid collector of worldwide documents on the history of railways and transport by rail for many years. Detlev is responsible for curating a knowledge base for media material and for media services. He was the founder of the predecessor company of today’s Global Rail Media in 2017.

Alexandra Schöner

Alexandra has 15 years of experience as an editor and started in a manga publishing house. She has a  Master of Arts  (M.A.) degree in Japanese and Romance Studies from University of Heidelberg (Germany).
She joined the predecessor company of  Global Rail Group in 2018.

Sabine Braun

Sabine has over 30 years of experience in the marketing and publishing sector.
She has joined the predecessor company of Global Rail Group in 2017.

John Schaefer

John brings over 35 years of combined experience in the areas of Railroad Technologies, Industrial Maintenance, Instructional. He is retired from the US Army and had worked as an Automotive Manufacturing Engineer for IMS Gear and as a Plasser American Field Service Representative. He currently holds a Master of Project Management and a B.S. in Technical Management and is an active member of AREMA Committee 27. John joined Global Rail Group in 2019.

Carsten Baumgart

Carsten brings more than 20 years experience in the rail industry in various roles as  a trainer, front cabin operator, tamping operator, machinist and locomotive driver, out of which, he worked for  6 years as a tamping operator and 15 years as a trainer. He previously worked for companies such as Swietelsky Germany, Krebs Gleisbau GmbH and Leonhard Weiss.
He joined Global Rail Academy in April 2021 as a trainer for front cabin operator, tamper and switch tamper certification with UEEIV.

Martin Murowski

Martin’s first contact with track construction machines was in 2009, when he was working for NEWAG in Oberhausen. After 9 years there and some experience abroad, he switched to Deutsche Plasser as project manager and estimator. Martin joined Global Rail Group in February 2022.

Christian Greifelt

Christian has 14 years of work experience and  was most recently employed at Plasser Robel Services /Deutsche Plasser in the role of responsible welding supervisor and deputy non-destructive testing (NDT) supervisor.
He is a mechanical engineer (B.Eng.) with further training as a welding engineer (IWE) and has various qualifications in welding and non-destructive testing in the field of rail vehicle maintenance.
He joined Global Rail Group in 2022.

Jürgen Poscher

Jürgen is a  state-certified mechanical engineering technician and HWK business economist with more than 30 years of experience in the field of hydraulic drive and control technology, as well as many years as a hydraulics trainer. He joined Global Rail Group in March 2020.

Oliver Fabrizius

Oliver has been Assistant Trainer at Global Rail Academy in Leverkusen since March 2022.  Before he started working here, he finished his training as mechatronics engineer at Deutsche Plasser (Plasser Robel Services) and thus has experience in the railway industry since 2018. 

Tyler Trahan

Tyler has 14 years of experience split between railroad operations and museum education. He started at the bottom of both fields and worked his way up to leadership positions including lead educator, passenger train conductor, and train dispatcher. Tyler is a contributor to Trains Magazine and a developer of the open-source video game OpenTTD.

Christina Lyons

Christina has 7 years of experience as a management assistant in business and banking and 15 years of experience teaching in the U.S. She taught English Education at Austin Peay State University, Tennessee, and at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois. Christina received her PhD in English from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, FTSK Germersheim in 2003, her Master of Arts in Education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL, U.S. in 2007, and her Master of Arts in Translation from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, FTSK Germersheim in 1998.
She joined Global Rail Group in April 2021 as an Assistant to Training Area.

Jessika Röhl

Jessika is studying Media Design at the International University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, while she works in the field of content creation for Global Rail Academy.
She joined Global Rail Group in October 2022.

Hannah Strippel

Hannah brings her Media Technology studies into the field of content and design creation, while gaining practical experience within Global Rail Academy.
She joined Global Rail Group in March 2022.

Karsten Graf

Karsten has 25 years+ experience in the Professional Services industry in Senior Management roles in various areas (IT, Engineering, HR Services).He worked in large global organizations and start-up environment and is passionate about developing new businesses and organizations. Karsten has been with the Global Rail Group since March 2023 and in charge of the Business Lines Academy and Recruiting Services.

Snježana Nedić

Snježana has a Bachelor’s degree in Traffic Engineering on Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering in Doboj. She joined Global Rail Group in February 2023.

Nataša Tatić

Nataša studied at the Faculty of Technology-Chemical Engineering and  joined Global Rail Group in February 2023. 

Igor Lukic

Igor, after completing his degree at the University of Traffic in Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, joined Global Rail Group in February 2023 as a trainee for Technical Services.