Who are you and what is your role in Alstom?
My name is Maria Signal Martebo and I am the CEO of Alstom Sweden.

What type of company is Alstom and what do you work with?
We are the largest supplier in the railway industry with 1800 employees, after strong growth and integration of Bombardier which we merged with in 2021. We are also active in railway vehicles, where we develop and deliver to, for example, public transport in Stockholm and Gothenburg, and new high-speed trains to SJ . Our other leg is the signal side, where we deliver signal systems to customers; from onboard to wayside and traffic management systems. Our third leg is service and maintenance, which in addition to maintenance itself also includes rebuilds and spare parts.

How come Alstom has decided to participate in Train & Rail?
Train & Rail is a good opportunity to meet industry players and be involved in influencing the railway sector of the future. We are very much looking forward to participating and have high hopes for a creative approach to the fair format.

What is Alstom's goal with Train & Rail?
Alstom's goal is to have an active dialogue, influence and drive the railway industry forward.

Which issue is most important from your perspective for the railway of the future and in what way do you yourself work with this issue today?
The attractiveness of the industry to be able to recruit competent staff is one of our heart issues. We work ourselves with both new recruitment and building the competence of our existing staff. As a natural part of the supply of skills, collaborations with universities and colleges are included. The railway industry in general has a lot to do to increase its attractiveness. Many young people today believe that it is old and mossy, but we work the opposite with AI, Machine Learning, passenger-friendly design and getting more people to travel by train. There are a number of aspects that are exciting to highlight in our industry.

Another question is how we should be able to utilize the inherent sustainability capacity of the railway. Sometimes it sounds as if only everyone gets an electric car, all climate issues will be resolved. But we try to convey to various decision-makers that investments in our industry provide enormous climate change.

What do you want from industry colleagues / decision-makers so that society can better meet demand, economic frameworks and climate goals for the future of rail transport?
Clear political instruments, by investing a little you get a great return in our industry. It is important for decision-makers at different levels to realize that public transport is safe, strong and sustainable.

One can also learn from what is happening internationally; if you want to go Brussels-Paris to go on to South America, they no longer sell the first leg by plane, but by train. I would like to see improved connection opportunities and cross-industry collaborations, also in Sweden and the Nordic countries. Imagine being able to travel from Sundsvall to NY; buy a ticket with SAS or Norwegian and then include the first route by train to Arlanda. It can be very beneficial to look outside your own box!

I often hear "when do you get the CEO car?" Then I answer "no, but I have a CEO bike!" There are some preconceived notions about our modes of transport today that I find interesting to discuss.