Railway Age’s 2024 ‘Fast Trackers’ 25 Under 40 Honorees
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Railway Age is pleased to announce the 25 “Fast Trackers” selected for this year’s 25 Under 40 awards program.
This year’s honorees were selected from freight and passenger railroads; government entities; and the supplier, contractor and consultant communities. They were required to be under 40 as of Jan. 1, 2024.
“Our ninth-annual awards program honorees not only represent the strength and growth of our industry, but also the ‘best of the best,’” Railway Age Publisher Jonathan Chalon said. “Railway Age will feature their accomplishments in the February 2024 issue.”
“The field was strong, which bodes well for the future,” said Michigan State Center for Railway & Education Director Nick Little, who was program judge. “This year, there was a noticeable reduction in IT people as these skills clearly become assimilated into the more traditional roles. Many nominees talked about internal and external cooperation and cross-functional leadership qualities. I continue to be amazed by the contributions these young people have made in their careers alongside maintaining quality of life. Ten of the 25 are female, which says a lot about the quality of women in rail today. The range of backgrounds and skills range from locomotive engineer to civil engineer and from project leader to operations manager, and everything in between.”
Honorees (in alphabetical order):
- Lindsay Anderson, Director Business Analytics & Resource Planning, CPKC
- Bryon Arita, VP – Sales, The Greenbrier Companies
- Gail Barman, Assistant Project Director, Amtrak
- Michael Cleveland, Director of Advanced Energy, Progress Rail, a Caterpillar Company
- Lucas Conrad, Senior Manager of Rail Safety Training, Watco
- Monica Coria, Senior Manager, Railroad & Real Estate Services, Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA)/Metrolink
- Marcellous Grigsby, Prevention and Mitigation Specialist, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
- Sarah Hagel, Senior Manager Service Design in Network Operations, CN
- Adam L. Harris, Director of Locomotive Operations & Maintenance, R.J. Corman Railroad Company
- Jenny Kane, Director, Rail Contract Management & Special Projects, Metra
- Matthew McLaughlin, Vice President of Business Development – Rail, Cathcart Rail
- Greg Mitchell, Assistant Chief Engineer – Engineering Services, Iowa Interstate Railroad
- Grace Olsen, General Director Mechanical Engineering & Quality – Mechanical, Union Pacific Railroad
- Sean Pengelly, Engineer – Projects & Development, Lake State Railway Company
- Cinthya Melissa Guillén Pinales, Superintendent Sr. Control & Operation, CPKC
- Anish Poudel, Principal Investigator II-NDE, MxV Rail
- Dan Rice, Senior Director of Product Management, Wabtec Corporation
- Martin Ritter, President & CEO, Stadler, US Inc.
- Stephanie Roop, Assistant Vice President Strategy & Planning, Norfolk Southern
- Pedro Tomas Santos, Chief Technology Officer, HGmotive (formerly k.a. CNGmotive)
- Cecilia Schmierer, District Manager of Risk Management, CSX
- Jonathan Sunde, Chief Engineer and Site Director, Strato, Inc.
- Jonathan Wnek, Project Manager, RailPros
- Tim Worrell, Assistant Superintendent, BNSF Railway
- Abby Zach, General Manager Alton & Southern, Union Pacific Railroad
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
- Casey Blaze, Rail Equipment Manager, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA)
- April Casey, Locomotive Engineer, Alstom Transport/SunRail
- Corey Caville, Marketing Director, Petroleum & Chemicals, CN
- Ean Johnson, Vice President, Economic and Industrial Development, OmniTRAX
- Matt Walker, Manager, Solutions Engineering, Railinc
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