Metro names FAA official director of rail operations control center

Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
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WMATA

Last month, RT&S reported on problems at the Metro rail operations control center. Please follow the preceding link to read this story.

Metro announced this weekend that an FAA official, Edward Donaldson, has been selected as the new director of the agency’s rail operations control center. Donaldson is retiring from the FAA, and will assume his new role at Metra on November 9.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Andrew Off, Metro’s Vice President of the agency’s Rail Operations Control Center and Strategic Transformation said “Ed has built a reputation for safety through a consistent and deep commitment over decades that ‘no one gets hurt on our watch.’ His leadership approach embraces just culture, collaboration, and effective dialogue with his team, as well as extensive technical knowledge.”

For Donaldson, this job is personal, too. He served in the military (Marines, Air Force and Air National Guard), and for a time he was under the command of Maj. General David F. Wherley. In the 2009 Metro Red Line collision, where 8 people were killed and 80 injured, General Wherley and his wife, Ann, were among those killed.

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