Egle Sime, CEO of LTG Cargo, was awarded the Women in Rail Trailblazer Award at the 16th edition of the European Railway Awards, held in Brussels on 31 January. This was the first time that this award was assigned. At the same event, Ukrainian Railways (UZ) received the Rail Champion Award.

Sime was nominated Rail Trailblazer for her efforts in diversifying LTG Cargo’s portfolio. More importantly, for her contribution to enabling women to become more actively involved in the railway sector. Sime joined the LTG Cargo team in 2019. Between that time and 2022, the presence of women in the company increased from 19 to 26 per cent. Moreover, as LTG Cargo pointed out, “in 2023, women make up about half of the company’s top-level management team”. Sime’s contribution in this regard lies in her position as ambassador for the LTG’s women club.

In an exclusive interview with RailFreight.com in June, Sime pointed out that LTG Cargo’s goals were to to provide the best possible support to Ukraine and Ukrainian clients. For this, Sime and the company decided to partially resume the operation of LTG Cargo Ukraine. Thanks to this initiative, the company set up a rail corridor to transport oil to Ukraine. Concerning entering new markets, LTG Cargo recently launched a new service between Lithuania and Poland for the transportation of coal. Other than the prestige of the prize, Sima went home with 10,000 euros, which she said she will transfer to Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska to help restore people’s lives affected by the war.

Ukrainian Railways awarded for operational resilience

UZ was named Rail Champion of the year for their efforts throughout the still ongoing war with Russia. The Rail Champion Award was received by Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, CEO of the passenger branch of UZ. The company is in fact playing a significant role in helping millions of people seeking refugee, maintaining the logistics chain, and delivering supplies under dangerous conditions.

As Pertsovskyi highlighted, over four million Ukrainians have been able to flee the country on a train, including one million children. “I first want to thank all European railway workers who also ensured the passage of these people to safe places and to ordinary Europeans for their sincere welcome and concern for our children”, he concluded.

The European Railway Awards

The European Railway Awards are organised by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the Association of the European Rail Supply Industry (UNIFE). The first edition of the Awards was held in 2007, with the jury consisting of railway and rail industry CEOs, EU-level political decision-makers, past winners, and selected journalists.

The Women in Rail Trailblazer Award was established this year in order to promote gender balance in the industry. This is because only 20 per cent of the current workforce in the railway sector are women, according to the European Commission. The awards come with prize money as well, which is donated to a charity organisation of the winner’s choice.

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