Metro-North names three to top leadership posts

MTA Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti recently announced the appointments of three railroad industry veterans to Metro-North's leadership team: Glen Hayden as vice president of engineering, Michael Yaeger as chief mechanical officer and Kevin O'Connor as chief transportation officer.

"I am confident that this highly experienced team will provide the leadership that Metro-North needs to refocus all its attention on safety, reliability and customer service, and in the process rebuild its reputation for excellence," said Giulietti in a press release.

Hayden will lead Metro-North's Maintenance of Way Department. For the past 16 years, he worked for Parsons Brinckerhoff, where he was responsible for planning and project management for a number of large, complex and critical transportation projects in the Northeast. Hayden spent much of his early career at Metro-North and its predecessor railroads, rising to the position of chief engineer.

As CMO, Yaeger will be responsible for maintenance of the railroad's fleet of rail cars and work trains. He has spent 27 years at Metro-North in the Maintenance of Equipment Department's project planning areas and in maintenance operations. He has been acting CMO since July 2013.

As CTO, O'Connor will oversee the day-to-day operation of trains. He succeeds Assistant Vice President John McNulty, who is retiring this summer after 40 years at Metro-North.

During his 36-year career in railroading, O'Connor has risen through the ranks, starting at Amtrak, where he held positions as a service attendant, block operator and train dispatcher. He then held progressively responsible positions in operations management for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit. Most recently, he was vice president and general manager of rail operations for NJ Transit.

O'Connor also has experience in implementing the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS), which Metro-North has committed to activating. NJ Transit was the first commuter railroad to implement C3RS, an FRA-sponsored, voluntary and confidential program that allows railroads and their employees to report close calls.