Cory Named CSX EVP and COO
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
Mike Cory
CSX on Sept. 8 named veteran railroad operating executive Mike Cory as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Cory replaces Jamie Boychuk, who departed CSX on Aug. 4.
Cory, with more than 40 years of operations experience, retired from CN in 2019 as EVP and COO, and since then has provided transportation consulting services. Cory began his railroad career in 1981 as a laborer in the CN locomotive shops in Winnipeg, Canada. Over the years, he rose through the ranks as a superintendent, general superintendent, director of service design, network operations superintendent and general manager of operations for CN’s Michigan Sub-region. He also held customer service and marketing positions. In 2006, he assumed a series of senior leadership roles, including Vice President of Network Operations, Senior Vice President Eastern Region and Senior Vice President Western Region. He was named EVP and COO in 2016.
Cory “will lead a strong team of operations professionals led by Senior Vice President Operations Ricky Johnson, and Senior Vice President Network Operations and Service Design Casey Albright, who have helped transform the company into a safety and service leader among North American Class I railroads,” CSX said. “He will continue to strengthen the company’s operating model across the network while fostering a ONE CSX culture that values and engages front-line employees.”
“Mike Cory is one of the rail industry’s leading operations executives, respected for his wealth of operations knowledge and his success as a leader who understands the customers we serve and has a deep appreciation for the employees who provide that service,” said CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs. “Mike’s reputation as a career railroader devoted to process improvement, team building and employee development within the principles of scheduled railroading will help CSX continue to achieve new levels of safety, service and operating efficiency.”
Cory and Boychuk worked together at CN for many years under the late Hunter Harrison, implementing scheduled railroading operating principles. “Mike is an excellent operating officer, among the best,” Boychuk told Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono. “I learned a lot from him at CN. We’re both from Winnipeg. I’ve known him since the age of seven—my dad played hockey with him. He’ll do a lot for CSX, and I wish him the best.”
CSX also named EVP Sales and Marketing Kevin Boone EVP and Chief Commercial Officer. Boone’s new title “recognizes his breadth of existing responsibilities across CSX’s broad customer base and growing offering of supply chain solutions,” CSX noted. Boone previously led the company’s finance organization before transitioning to sales and marketing in 2021. He joined CSX in 2017, following a successful 17-year career in the investment industry.
“With our great team of talented leaders, I am confident that CSX will continue its momentum toward providing an industry-leading experience for our employees, customers, communities and shareholders,” said Hinrichs.
