The appointment of Long Island Rail Road Senior Vice President of Operations Robert Free as interim LIRR President by MTA Chairman Janno Lieber made sense.
There was no way acting LIRR President Catherine Rinaldi could give her full attention to this critical full-time position. There were never enough hours in the day while wearing two hats. She also served as Metro North Rail Road president.
Promoting from within the LIRR senior organization management team makes sense. Rather than wasting time and money in a six-month national search for a new permanent LIRR President, Lieber should promote from within.
Besides Free, there are a number of very capable other senior LIRR vice presidents such as Executive Vice President Elisa Picca, Senior Chief Engineer Ed McGoldrick and several others who could easily step in to fill this position full time.
They, like Free, already have a good understanding of the LIRR’s organization, staff, operations, facilities and customers’ needs. Any would be able to hit the job running with little need for on the job training.
There are a number of issues facing management that recent past LIRR Presidents Phil Eng and Catherine Rinaldi have not resolved. They include significant overtime abuse and out-of-control pensions, fare evasion, periodic cancellation and combining of trains due to signal, power and other problems in the East River tunnels, Harold Interlocking, Jamaica Station and other locations and several new union contracts.
Some of these have gone on for far too long.
Amtrak will begin repairs to the four East River tunnels in 2024. This will result in one tunnel at a time being removed from service. With access to only three tunnels, Free will need to develop a new Penn Station service plan. It should keep to a minimum the number of combined and canceled trains during this multi-year construction period.
Free will need to meet with and develop a working relationship with the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York office. FTA plays a critical role in funding the LIRR capital program
Free must continue progressing the LIRR to reach a state of good repair for the existing fleet, stations, signals, interlocking, track, power, yards and shops.
FTA , Albany, other funding agencies, commuters, taxpayers, transit advocacy groups and elected officials on the local, county, state and federal level all wish him success in his new role.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former Director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management.
