About Locomore

Our team is composed of rail experts and enthusiasts. Currently involved are Derek Ladewig, Katrin Seiler, Nicolas Dietrich, Johanna Jäger, Maria Hoppe und Mark Peter Wege. We are supported by a network of experts.

Our history

Locomore was founded by Derek Ladewig in 2007 with the aim of getting an alternative to the Deutsche Bahn on track. Locomore was thus significantly involved in the initiation of the Hamburg-Köln-Express (HKX). Derek Ladewig and several of his colleagues left however HKX prior to the start of operation due to insurmountable differences regarding the strategic direction with the American majority investor RDC in the area of HKX product development. Their enthusiasm for long-distance trains remained nevertheless untainted, and thus they keep on working to put a convincing alternative to the Deutsche Bahn on tracks.

Our team

Derek Ladewig, born in 1971, is founder, shareholder and managing director of Locomore. As a public administration and management specialist, Derek has dedicated his career to the field of transportation with special emphasis on train transportation. His career includes work in public transportation, as adviser on train transportation to the German Bundestag and initiator of the Hamburg-Köln-Express (HKX). He is the driving force behind Locomore. It is his core belief that long distance travel on tracks can only gain new passengers sustainably if travellers have a real choice between offers of different railway companies.

Katrin Seiler, born in 1975, is managing director of Locomore and responsible for human resources, in charge of the finances, and Locomore's on-board service. She studied Social Sciences. Previously, Katrin worked as research assistant in the Bundestag and transportation consultant for Hamburg-Köln-Express (HKX) as well as Locomore. It is Katrin's utmost concern to work for a railway company that recognizes the demand of taking travelers' special needs seriously.

Nicolas Dietrich, born in 1981, shareholder and responsible for IT and distribution at Locomore. Nicolas is a computer scientist and co-founder of Partou eG. Additionally, he works for the Liquid Democracy e.V. and is involved with the Free Software Foundation Europe. Together with Sqills as a partner he developed a distribution system especially catered to the needs of the long distance railway transportation sector. The system was originally developed for HKX, but has been developed further for Locomore with improved performance. He supports the team in all business development processes with his usual IT accuracy.

Johanna Jäger, born in 1977, shareholder and business set-up support. As political scientist, she worked for non-profit organisations in the environmental and humanitarian sector before joining the team. In addition to her work for Locomore, she is involved in adult education with a focus on ecology, including the subject of mobility. As a passionate train traveller, she supports the business development of Locomore.

Maria Hoppe, born in 1984, supports the establishment of Locomore's business. She studied Social Sciences and Applied Cultural Analysis. Maria is fond of traveling and curious about people. Therefore, making mobility as environmentally friendly and people-centered as possible is crucial to her.

Mark Peter Wege, born in 1973, is responsible for the Community Management. The certified psychologist and passionate train traveller has been active in the environmental and anti-nuclear movement for a long time. Aside his work for Locomore, he is involved in environmental education. His main goals are ecology, fairness and establishment of a community which supports the values of Locomore.

You? There are still some open positions. For more information see Jobs (just in German).

The company Locomore

Locomore is structured as a limited liability partnership (GmbH & Co. KG). The Railway Management GmbH acts as general partner. The shares of Locomore are held in majority by Derek Ladewig (61.5 %), other Team members (16 %) and ca. 15 additional silent partners (22.5 %). As of 31 December 2012, Locomore has transferred its shares of the Hamburg-Köln-Express GmbH amounting to 17.5 % to the HKX Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG. The latter reflects the structure of the Locomore shareholders at the time of the foundation of the HKX GmbH.