People news from Amtrak and TRAC Intermodal

President Joe Biden yesterday announced his intent to nominate former Federal Railroad Administrator Ronald Batory and Valley Regional Transit CEO Elaine Marie Clegg to Amtrak’s board of directors. Batory has more than 45 years of field and system experience in the railroad industry. He spent the first 23 years of his career working for Class Is. He is the former president and chief operating officer at Conrail, and served as administrator of the FRA under the Trump administration. Clegg has been a public servant focused on transportation and land use for more than 25 years, with nearly 20 years on the Boise City Council, Idaho. She has been Valley Transit's CEO since February 2023.

TRAC Intermodal has hired Katherine Whalen as executive vice president and chief legal officer. As CLO, she will lead all legal, compliance and regulatory functions across TRAC, and will be the company secretary for TRAC's board. As a member of the senior leadership team, she will report to TRAC President and CEO Daniel Walsh. Prior to joining TRAC, Whalen held senior-level legal positions and most recently was senior VP, general counsel Americas at Azelis, a global specialty chemical distribution business.