NJ TRANSIT NAMES KEVIN O'CONNOR AS VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER OF RAIL OPERATIONS
February 9, 2011
NJT-11-007
NEWARK, NJ — The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors appointed Kevin O’Connor as the new Vice President and General Manager of NJ TRANSIT Rail Operations at today’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Mr. O’Connor has served as NJ TRANSIT’s Acting Vice President and General Manager of Rail Operations since July 2010, managing a complex system of 12 commuter rail lines and 165 stations that serves more than 270,000 passenger trips on a typical weekday.
“As a professional with more than 33 years of railroad operating experience, the depth of Kevin’s knowledge and his focus on safety, fiscal responsibility and on-time performance will serve the agency, our employees and our customers well,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein. “With his extensive background in rail operations, I’m confident that he will continue to rise to the challenges associated with keeping New Jersey’s rail system moving day in and day out.”
“Robust and reliable rail transportation is vital to both the State and the region,” said O’Connor. “I’m committed to ensuring the safe, efficient operation of rail service for the customers who depend on our trains every day to conduct life’s daily business,” said O’Connor.
In 2002, Mr. O’Connor joined NJ TRANSIT as General Superintendent of New York Penn Station, the busiest station on NJ TRANSIT’s rail system. He later advanced to Deputy General Manager of Transportation, a position responsible for all transportation-related aspects of rail operations, including customer communications, safety initiatives, labor relations and revenue collection, as well as the safe and efficient movement of 694 daily revenue trains.
During his nine years at NJ TRANSIT, Mr. O’Connor has improved customer communications at New York Penn Station by successfully integrating New York station operations with Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT, including the PA announcer function, within a new Terminal Operations Center. He also coordinated with Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT personnel for the opening of the Frank R. Lautenberg Station at Secaucus Junction and developed operating plans for the successful opening of the Meadowlands Rail Line.
Mr. O’Connor’s experience in the rail transportation industry began at Amtrak, where he rose through the ranks from a train attendant on the New York Division, then gaining experience in dispatch and the operating rules department. The positions he later served included Manager of Operations for Penn Station Central Control and Assistant General Manager of Train Operations for Amtrak’s Metropolitan Division. He ultimately became General Manager of Amtrak’s Philadelphia lines in the Mid-Atlantic Division, responsible for all aspects of operations from Washington, DC to Morrisville, PA and west from Philadelphia to Harrisburg.
In 2008, Mr. O’Connor completed the ENO Center for Transportation Leadership Executive Development Program. He resides in Hamilton, NJ.
About NJ TRANSIT
NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 895,000 weekday trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 165 rail stations, 60 light rail stations and more than 19,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.