The Spanish Official State Gazette has announced today the appointment of Álvaro Fernández Heredia as the new president of Renfe, following the decision made by the Council of Ministers in its meeting yesterday, Tuesday, at the proposal of the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente.
Fernández Heredia assumes the presidency of Renfe after serving as Secretary General for Sustainable Mobility. He is a Civil Engineer and holds a PhD in Transportation Infrastructure from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM).
The new president of the company brings 20 years of professional experience in the mobility and transportation sector, having worked in consulting, research, university teaching, and holding management positions at various levels. He succeeds Raül Blanco, who chaired the company since February 2023.
In academia, he has been a professor of Transport Planning and the director of the Master’s Program in Civil Engineering at UPM. He has also worked as a researcher at the Transportation Research Center, a visiting researcher at Politecnico di Torino, and a visiting professor at the University of the West of England. He has authored more than 30 publications in scientific journals and books on mobility.
In public administration, he served as Managing Director of the Madrid Municipal Transport Company (EMT) for four years and subsequently as Director of Urban Buses of Valladolid (AUVASA) for another four years. Additionally, he is a member of the Advisory Council of Spain’s Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, a member of the European Committee of the International Association of Public Transport, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Collective Urban Transport Association.