San Diego transit agency names first female CEO NEWSWIRE

Friday evening rail news in brief:

— The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System board has named Sharon Cooney as CEO, becoming the agency’s first female chief executive. Conney succeeds Paul Jablonski, who died suddenly on May 10. “Sharon brings passion, institutional knowledge, and a track record of success to the job.” Said Nathan Fletcher, MTS board chairman, in a press release. “She has been performing at a high level as deputy chief executive officer and chief of staff for years. The entire board is confident that Sharon is the right person to keep MTS as one of the nation’s top transit agencies.” Cooney has been at MTS for 15 years, holding positions including director of government affairs and director of planning.

— New York’s Adirondack Park Agency has approved a plan that will remove 34 miles of rail line to create a multi-use trail between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid, while refurbishing 45 miles of track south of Tupper Lake to allow a tourist railroad to continue to operate. The rail line would be restored to operating condition by 2021, with the rail trail opening by 2023, the Glens Falls Post-Star reports. The plan would bring to an end a long-running battle between the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and its supporters, who wanted the entire route maintained to allow the possibility of rail service to Lake Placid, and trail supporters. [See “New York State moves ahead on plan to rip up tracks in the Adirondacks,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 18, 2019.]

— The National Transportation Safety Board says improper use of an approach warning system led to the death of a Long Island Rail Road maintenance worker in a 2017 incident at Queens Village, N.Y. The NTSB issued its final report on Thursday for the June 10, 2017, accident in which the foreman of a group of track workers stepped in front of an oncoming train when a lookout sounded a handheld horn and told the group to clear the tracks. The report says the warning system “fails to ensure adequate protection for roadway workers” and said the decision by the LIRR and the workers’ union to allow overtime work “without properly considering and mitigating workers’ risk of fatigue” was a contributing factor. The lookout and foreman had both worked consecutive overtime shifts that did not allow for adequate rest.