The MTA’s two commuter railroads, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North, will again be managed separately after 19 months under joint leadership.
Cathy Rinaldi announced Monday that she is stepping down as interim president of the Long Island Rail Road but will remain as head of Metro-North. At the LIRR, Rinaldi will be replaced as acting president by Rob Free, a decades-long employee at the railroad who has served as its senior vice president of operations since 2020, according to his LinkedIn. Free will be transitioning to the new role over the course of the next month.
Rinaldi, who has led Metro-North since 2018, became the interim head of the LIRR last February upon the retirement of Phil Eng, who is now head of Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
