Catherine Rinaldi has been President of MTA Metro-North Railroad since Feb. 21, 2018. She is the sixth president of Metro-North and the first woman to hold that position. In February 2022, she was appointed Interim President of the Long Island Rail Road, serving in that role until October 2023.
Rinaldi joined Metro-North in January 2015 as Executive Vice President. In that role, she spearheaded the development of Metro-North’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan and “Way Ahead,” the customer-facing component of that plan. Those efforts aim to improve system reliability, achieve excellent customer service, and continue the intensive infrastructure work essential to maintaining system safety.
Rinaldi has overseen a host of customer-facing initiatives, from the delivery of real-time service information at Grand Central Terminal and outlying stations to a multimillion-dollar station upgrade at White Plains Station, the railroad’s third busiest station. Metro-North’s customer-facing safety program, TRACKS, won the 2018 APTA Gold Award for Safety. She has also led the effort to implement a federally required positive train control (PTC) system across Metro-North.
Rinaldi has worked to improve employee engagement at the railroad, including support for women in the Metro-North workforce. These efforts have included panel discussions, recognition events, and the formation of a professional group of women engineers. Other employee-centered initiatives include programs for knowledge transfer and succession planning, departmental focus groups, and expanded safety training.
Rinaldi’s previous positions within the MTA include Chief of Staff and Counsel to the MTA Chairman, from 2011 through 2014; Vice President and General Counsel at Long Island Rail Road, from 2008 to 2011; and Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel at MTA Headquarters, from 2003 until 2006.
Rinaldi was named the 2018 Woman of the Year by the Greater New York Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale and received her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.