An FRA representative alerted media to the appointment in a late Thursday email notice.
Before assuming the No. 2 spot at FRA, Kendall was CSX Transportation’s vice president for government and community affairs from 2013 to 2018. Before that he served at the Transportation Department from 2005 to 2009, first as a deputy assistant secretary, then as chief of staff for the transportation secretary.
Kendall reports to Ron Batory, FRA’s administrator and retired, long-time executive of Conrail Shared Assets Operations. The deputy post had been vacant since the Juan D. Reyes III, a former FRA chief counsel and deputy administrator, left for a private law firm. Reyes was elevated to deputy director to fill the vacancy left by early Trump administration appointee Heath Hall, who resigned in early 2018.
