Prominent High-Speed Train Executive van Ark Named to Lead California High-Speed Rail Authority

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The California High-Speed Rail Authority today named Roelof van Ark, a senior executive with more than 30 years experience as an engineer and manager for some of the world's leading transportation companies, as the agency's chief executive officer.

Van Ark, 58, of New York, is President of Alstom Transportation Inc., the North American subsidiary of France's Alstom SA, makers of the fastest trains in the world and builders of Europe's TGV. The company has 65,000 employees and annual revenues of $20 billion.

"Building the first high-speed rail system in the nation is no ordinary job. It is the biggest public works project in the country – and the largest environmental review in history," said Authority Chairman Curt Pringle. "Roelof van Ark is the world-class manager and engineer we need to take the reins of this project and turn the promise of high-speed rail into a reality for the people of California."

The Authority's board of directors voted to name van Ark to the job after an extensive search and candidate screening process. The Authority also approved an annual salary of $375,000, substantially less than van Ark's current compensation in the private sector.  

"California is leading the nation in high-speed rail," van Ark said. "I have seen how high-speed rail projects transform the places where they're built – creating incredible new opportunities by connecting the world's great cities. As someone who has devoted his career to this industry, there's no doubt in my mind that California is the place to be, and I'm honored to be given the opportunity to work with all partners to move California's high-speed train project forward."

When he starts work on June 1, van Ark becomes just the second top manager since the Authority was formed in 1996. He succeeds Mehdi Morshed, who retired after serving as Executive Director at the Authority from 1998 to 2010.

Van Ark has been President at Alstom Transportation Inc. for the past five years. He previously served as President of Aviation Security for Invision Technologies Inc.

Van Ark also spent more than 20 years as an executive, managing director, general manager, senior technical manager and senior project engineer for Siemens, the manufacturers of the popular ICE high speed trains, working in Germany, South Africa and most recently in Sacramento, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Transportation Systems from 1999 to 2002.

Van Ark holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

New California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO:  Roelof van Ark

Current Position: President, ALSTOM Transportation, Inc., 2005 to present

• Broad-spectrum transportation system supplier; a subsidiary of French ALSTOM SA; a company of $20 billion revenue and 65,000 employees.
• Led company (revenue $1B; 2,000 employees) through turbulent period
• Stabilized and grew production output by 100% over period of 18 months

Residence: New York and Northern California

President, Aviation Security, Invision Technologies Inc. / GE Infrastructure, 2003 to 2005, Newark and California

• High technology security equipment and services supplier; a company of $350 million revenue and 1,000 employees.  Fastest growing company in its sector according to Forbes Magazine (2003 and 2004.)
• Led company through turbulent post 9-11 period.
• Instrumental in sale of Invision Technologies to General Electric, concluded December 2004 for cash consideration of $900 million.  

President and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Transportation Inc., 1999 to 2002, Sacramento, California

• Broad-spectrum transportation system supplier; subsidiary of Siemens AG of Germany; company of $500 million revenue and 1,000 employees.
• Led company in major turnaround; Increased revenue >42% in three years.

President/Executive Director, Turnkey Transportation Systems, Siemens AG, 1995 to 1999, Berlin, Germany

• Broad-spectrum global manufacturer and supplier of electrical, electronic and telecommunications equipment and services with $70 billion in revenue and 460,000 employees worldwide.
• Successfully built complex, multi-billion dollar projects such as the "Skytrain" in Bangkok and the subways in Guangzhou and Shanghai in China, as well as Very High Speed rail lines between Hamburg and Frankfurt, within budgets and in record time.
• Partnered in global management team initiative that re-designed and turned around the total Siemens Transportation Systems worldwide business from a loss of $375M in 1997 to a profit of $30M in 1999/2000.

Joint Managing Director, Siemens Ltd., 1992 to 1995, Johannesburg, South Africa

• Local subsidiary of Siemens AG; responsible for Sub-Saharan business; company with $700 million revenues, 5,000 employees.
• Led the Industrial and Building Systems & Automation Division, Standard Products and Drives Division, Power Transmission and Distribution Division, Power Generation Division, Cables Business, Transportation Systems Division (2,500 employees.)
• Doubled profits and retained business volumes (approximately $400 million) in turbulent post-election South African economy.

General Manager/Executive Director, Siemens Ltd., 1988 to 1992, Johannesburg, South Africa

• Led the Siemens Energy and Automation Group within Siemens Ltd. South Africa.
• Negotiated, procured and executed contract for electric and control systems for largest-in-the-world aluminum smelter.

Senior Technical Manager, Siemens Ltd., 1984 to 1988, Johannesburg, South Africa

• Led an aggressive drive (over 10 years) that obtained and executed contracts for more than 350 electric locomotives for the S.A. Transportation Systems (federal railroad.).

Technical Manager, Siemens Ltd., 1981 to 1984, Johannesburg, South Africa

Senior Project Engineer, Siemens Ltd., 1979 to 1989, Erlangen, Germany

Project Engineer, 1976 to 1979, Johannesburg, South Africa

Education: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, M.B.A., 1976, B.S., Electrical Engineering, 1974

The Search for a CEO

• In January 2010, the Authority Board approved and adopted an organizational chart as recommended by consultant KPMG, which included a newly created CEO position.
• In January 2010, Board Chairman Pringle created an Executive Director Search committee (consisting of himself and Board member Diridon) and the Board delegated to that Committee the task of conducting a search for candidates.
• In January 2010, the Committee retained the services of an executive search firm, CPS Human Resource Services.
• March 2, 2010, CPS reported that it had received interest from 42 candidates.
• March 31 and April 1, 2010, the Board held candidate interviews in Los Angeles.
• May 6, 2010, the Board took action to approve the hiring of Roelof van Ark.

SOURCE California High-Speed Rail Authority