Surprise in the top management of Deutsche Bahn: Ronald Pofalla, the board member responsible for infrastructure, is leaving the group at the end of April.

The state-owned company announced this on Tuesday morning.

The step was taken "at my own request," it said.

Pofalla spoke of "personal reasons".

"After more than seven years with the company, it's time to start the next phase of my life," explained the 62-year-old.

Chairman of the Supervisory Board Michael Odenwald thanked for the "very good cooperation" in the past years.

“I can understand Mr. Pofalla's motives.

Still, his decision is unfortunate," he added.

Thiemo Heeg

Editor in Business.

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Pofalla joined the track in January 2015.

He has been responsible for infrastructure since 2017.

This made him one of the most influential members of the company's top management.

CEO Richard Lutz called him a "valued colleague far beyond DB".

He played a key role in shaping the "Strong Rail" strategy.

He recognized the opportunities of digitization for rail early on and set the course.

Most recently, Pofalla had announced extensive construction programs worth billions for the railways in Germany.

The railways are currently building more eagerly than ever because parts of the rail infrastructure are dilapidated.

Pofalla came to the company from politics.

The qualified social worker and lawyer sat in the Bundestag for the Union from 1990 to 2014.

From 2002 to 2004 he was legal advisor to the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, from 2005 to 2009 Secretary General of the CDU.

In 2009 he became Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks.

He was considered one of the closest confidants of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In 2015 he finally switched to Deutsche Bahn, initially as General Manager for political and international relations.

His rapid move from top politics to business was also met with criticism.

On the one hand, Pofalla's departure comes as a surprise at this point in time.

On the other hand, many observers in Berlin wondered whether the manager with a CDU ticket still had sufficient political support under the new traffic light government in the highly political company DB.

The future of rail boss Richard Lutz was also questioned in this context.