METRO-NORTH RAILROAD:
A CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Cathy Rinaldi, Metro-North Railroad's first female president, retired this week after 22 years with the New York MTA.

After joining the MTA as general counsel in 2003 she later served as chief of staff at MTA HQ before becoming Vice President at Metro-North under then-President Joe Giulietti, who she succeeded in 2017.

For a time, Rinaldi led Metro-North and the nation’s busiest commuter railroad simultaneously; in 2022 she began an 18-month stint as the interim president of MTA’s Long Island Rail Road.

Rinaldi's tenure was marked by major milestones for both railroads. Under her leadership, Metro-North saw record-high on-time performance, increased customer satisfaction, and significant advancements in technology and infrastructure. And in 2023 the East-Side Access project concluded with the opening of Grand Central Madison, bringing Long Island Rail Road service to the east side of Manhattan.

Her leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery further cemented her legacy.

Thursday night Rinaldi was feted at Grand Central’s iconic Oyster Bar, a place where she said she first met her husband. With tributes from peers and three MTA chairmen, examples of Cathy’s integrity, intellect and compassion were recalled again and again.

“Cathy Rinaldi came through for Metro North, excelling at implementing positive train control, dealing with a pandemic, implementing new safety measures to protect the workers and the public and heading both railroads - LIRR and METRO NORTH — a feat that none before her had achieved. She is known for her composure and resolve to meet the challenges while also working on strategic goals for our industry. In Connecticut, we had a trusted supporter who helped us through the pandemic and quickly returned our services to a level of normalcy and again taking Metro North to its premier position. Cathy is both a respected leader and a good friend.” ~ Joe Giulietti, former President, Metro-North Railroad, and former Commissioner, Connecticut DOT

And in a fitting transition, Metro-North this week kicked off its super express service from New Haven, CT, with the railroad’s new president, Justin Vonashek, on hand.

Vonashek is the seventh president of Metro-North. He joined the agency in January 2016 as vice president of system safety and was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer in September 2023.

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR
CRC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Commuter Rail Coalition is accepting nominations for seats on the association’s board of directors. Helmed by chair emeritus Jim Derwinski (Metra), the 2025 Nominations Committee is seeking eligible candidates eager to join in mapping the future of the Coalition.

The seats open for election include chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, and at-large.

To be eligible, candidates must be an agency CEO (or the commuter rail lead within a multimodal agency), or company principal, with at least one year of active participation in the CRC. Per CRC bylaws, private sector members may serve in any role other than chair or vice chair of the board; public sector members may run for any seat that is not the designated “affiliate member representative.”

Upon election, candidates should be prepared to serve the full two-year term. An individual may serve a maximum of four years in any one position on the board.

Nominations, including self-nominations, must be received by April 25 and directed to KAG@CommuterRailCoalition.org. A complete application package includes:

• CV

• List of nominee’s CRC activities

• High-resolution photo

• Name of seat being pursued

Questions can be directed to KAG@CommuterRailCoalition.org.

The Nominations Committee is tasked with identifying a slate of candidates representative of Coalition membership; to achieve balanced representation they may actively recruit additional candidates after the April 25 deadline.

Elections will take place Tuesday, July 1.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL SEASON COMMENCES

April marks the anniversary of CRC’s founding in 2019. It’s also the start of CRC’s membership year. In the past week, CRC’s accounting team has issued renewal invoices to all member organizations.

Renewing your membership allows CRC to build on the progress we have made together in representing and amplifying the voice of commuter railroads. Over the past six years, CRC has grown to represent the agencies that move more than 98.5% of all riders, along with the private sector partners that enable the industry to innovate, renew, and provide safe and efficient service to hundreds of thousands of riders each year.

With myriad changes in Washington the year ahead promises to be dynamic for commuter railroads. The Coalition is made stronger by its members.

WASHINGTON ROUND-UP

• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy returned to Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee about his priorities for the upcoming surface transportation bill.

  According to Politico, under questioning the secretary “defended freezing funding for certain infrastructure grants while they are reviewed for offending language on climate, diversity or other liberal priorities,” arguing that the “Biden administration included climate and social justice criteria in its grant process even though Congress debated including those things in the 2021 law and decided not to.”

  Secretary Duffy further asserted that personnel reductions at DOT are not hampering those reviews.

• US DOT has given employees one week to consider a second “deferred resignation” offer. Accepting the proposal would guarantee pay and benefits through September 30 along with protection from any interim reductions in force that might roll out.

• FTA nominee Marc Molinaro is expected to see a confirmation vote before the end of the month after finding little resistance in the Senate Banking Committee this week.

• And FRA nominee David Fink has pledged to divest from any interests he would oversee as agency administrator, including stock in Class I railroads.

Metra is bringing transportation professionals, law enforcement, and social services together for a free in-person (and virtual) one-day conference to build awareness and education about human trafficking.

Whether in-person or virtual, this free conference will provide critical tools, insights, and survivor stories to help build safer communities. Together, we can make a difference.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Life Without Transit? Silicon Valley Had a Glimpse for Nearly 3 Weeks (The New York Times)

• Where battery and hydrogen-powered trains are coming to US commuter rail (SmartCitiesDive)

• Salt Lake City Train Manufacturer wants to fuel cleaner transit future with plant expansion (The Salt Lake Tribune)

• A Faster Future: Unbreaking Passenger Rail to Deliver the Rapid Service We Need (StreetsBlogNYC)

• TriRail could shut down by 2028 if it can’t find new funding (SunSentinel.com)

• CT: CTDOT to discuss future of transit and transportation in CT. ‘So much is changing,’ officials say (MassTransit)

• It’s time to accelerate modernizing America’s infrastructure (Congressman Mike Quigley)

• When Does Increased Government Efficiency Violate the Law? (Eno Center for Transportation)

• What’s so hard about building trains? (The New York Times)

• Metro-North Is Faster Than Acela on NYC-New Haven Route After Signal Updates (Bloomberg UK)

• Metro-North’s New Haven NYC Line Gets 10-minutes Faster (NY Daily News)

• NICTD hopes to open West Lake Corridor in late August or early September (Lakeshore Public Media)

• New Metro-North President Vonashek Meets Riders During First Week of Service Enhancements (MTA)

• More riders using VRE (The Daily Progress)

• Dystopia or Utopia? Chicagoland transit officials discuss worst and best possible outcomes as we approach state funding deadline (StreetsBlog)

• Metro-North’s first woman president approaches the end of the line (CT Mirror)