ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Virginia Railway Express will begin a search for a new chief operating officer after announcing today that the VRE Operations Board and current CEO Doug Allen “have agreed to part ways.”
Allen became VRE’s CEO in September 2012 after stints at Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Capital Metro in Austin, Texas.
“Doug has done an excellent job leading VRE through a period of significant growth,” Operations Board Chair Katie Cristol said in a release announcing Allen’s departure. “He helped professionalize the organization, added important staff, led the development of strategic and finance plans to guide the organization over the next decade, and has been a leading voice for transit in both the Commonwealth and throughout the country. We thank Doug for his service and wish him well.”
The board has recommended that Rich Dalton, deputy CEO and chief operating officer, serve as acting CEO during the search for a new leader. Dalton served in a similar capacity during the agency’s last CEO search in 2012.
VRE, the nation’s 12th largest commuter rail service, is governed jointly by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commissions. Those agencies must take final action on Allen’s departure and Dalton’s appointment as acting CEO and will do so at meetings in November.
