Metro Transit Deputy GM Fuhrmann retires

Metro Transit Deputy General Manager Mark Fuhrmann retires today.

He is leaving the agency to work as associate vice president for HDR Engineering, where he'll serve as program director for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District's New Starts projects.

Since joining Metro Transit in March 1999, Fuhrmann has overseen construction of the Minneapolis region's 62 miles of passenger rail, which comprises 40 miles of Northstar commuter rail and 22 miles of light rail.

He began his career at a private bus company before moving to Washington, D.C., to work on the buildout of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) subway system from 1985 to 1993.

Fuhrmann worked on the opening of three subway extensions and the introduction of the first two commuter-rail lines in northern Virginia, Metro Transit officials wrote in a blog post.

After working for WMATA, he returned to Minnesota to work for the Metropolitan Council's transportation division. The council oversees Metro Transit.

During Fuhrmann's tenure, Metro Transit opened the Blue Line in 2004, the Northstar commuter-rail system in 2009 and the Green Line in 2014.

"Honest, straight shooting and unflappable is how I would describe Mark," said Peter Bell, who served as Metropolitan Council chair during the Green Line's engineering and early construction phases. "He was very calm under intense pressure because he always had his facts right. I was always amazed at how people on all sides of the transit issue might disagree with one of our conclusions but never the facts that Mark presented."