The management change is on the agenda at a meeting of Vossloh's board on Thursday, according to the sources.

Busemann, who was named to head Deutsche Bahn's cargo unit at the end of 2015, would replace Vossloh's current CEO, Hans Schabert, who previously announced that he would not renew his contract which expires in March 2017.

It will be the second senior management change at Vossloh in two years. Heinz Hermann Thiele, a major shareholder of Vossloh and chairman of the company's supervisory board, replaced the entire top management in 2014, moving Schabert, a former Siemens AG manager, into the chief executive role.

Thiele also started the sale of Vossloh's rail vehicles business in late 2015, which led to significant losses for the new management team this year. The company's results have since improved, although sales are currently down.

Deutsche Bahn said it did not comment on personnel matters. Vossloh declined to comment.

(Reporting by Markus Wacket, Writing by Andrea Shalal, Editing by Joseph Nasr and Louise Heavens)