Mr. Ignacy Góra - Doctor of Technical Sciences in the discipline of transport. He defended his doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Transport of the Warsaw University of Technology. He graduated from the Cracow University of Technology in mechanics and machine construction – specialisation rail vehicles – and corporate management. He also completed postgraduate studies at: Silesian University of Technology - Integrated Safety Management Systems, Krakow University of Technology - Modern Electrical Technologies in Transport, Radom University of Technology - EU Integration in Rail Transport and L. Koźmiński University in Warsaw - European Management Model.
Since the beginning of his professional career he worked in the rail industry. He is the author and co-author of many safety, operational and interoperability regulations and regulations concerning, i.a., training for train driver’s licences and certificates. He participated in the restructuring of PKP Cargo S.A. and the implementation of the government strategy for the reallocation of movable assets and the allocation of real estate in the PKP Group. Between 2005 and 2008 he was a representative of the PKP Group in the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER). His achievements included the development of solutions for mobile employees, in particular train drivers in cross-border traffic.
Since October 2013 he acted as the Vice President of the Office of Rail Transport for Technology and Rail Traffic Safety. Thanks to his personal commitment, the years-long backlog of certificates of approval for the operation of railway equipment, structures and vehicles was cleared. Since February 2016 he was acting President of the Office of Rail Transport. On 24 November 2016 he was appointed as the President of Office of Rail Transport. Due to the amendment of the Rail Transport Act 2003, on 30 March 2017 he was appointed according to the new rules as President of Office of Rail Transport for a five-year term. On 24 June 2022 he received an appointment for a second term.
He has carried out many projects to improve rail safety. The most important of these include: the Examination and Monitoring Centre for Train Drivers, the Rail Safety Academy and the ABC Railway Campaign. He also initiated solutions to provide more assistance to people with disabilities, such as the reduction of the 48-hour notification time for assistance, or the Study on accessibility of rail facilities serving travellers with disabilities and reduced mobility. Thanks to his initiative, more than 250 representatives of the rail market signed the Declaration on the development of the safety culture in rail transport, with standing commitment to treat safety as the main objective. He contributed to reducing administrative burdens, speedy processing of cases and thus the development of rail market, which is now a primary objective for the Office of Rail Transport.
In June 2016 and again in October 2021 he was appointed to the Council for Accreditation at the Polish Centre for Accreditation. In 2017 he was awarded the 'Lions of Kozminski' award in the Administration category. In 2018 he was appointed as a member of the Steering Committee in the task force for the implementation of the Railway Component of the Solidarity Transport Hub Poland. In January 2020 he became a member of the Accessibility Council, established on 20 December 2018 as a subsidiary body of the Minister of Investment and Development. In 2021 he was appointed to the Transport Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the term 2020-2023. In 2021 he was the national coordinator of the European Year of Rail 2021.