May 02, 2024
Intercity

Batory Slated for Amtrak Board

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief

Ronald L. Batory. USDOT photo.

President Joe Biden on May 2 announced his intent to nominate Ronald L. Batory to the Amtrak Board of Directors.

“Ronald L. Batory is a career railroad professional with more than 45 years of field and system experience in the railroad industry,” the White House said. “He spent the first 23 years of his career working for eastern and western Class I railroads in addition to serving along with a court appointed Trustee’s successful oversight of a regional railroad bankruptcy. In 1994 he was appointed President of The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, a multiple owned subsidiary of then nine competing Class I carriers. His leadership success of serving their needs in the Chicago Gateway led to CSX and Norfolk Southern Corporation later recruiting him to Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in preparation of their STB approved partitioning of the eastern carrier and establishing the Shared Assets Areas. He was later appointed President and Chief Operating Officer for the entire corporate entity. Upon his retirement in 2017, Batory pursued public service in Washington, District of Columbia, and was nominated and appointed as Administrator of The Federal Railroad Administration.”

Batory is a graduate of Adrian College, with a bachelor’s degree along with a master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University. He serves on various governing and advisory boards associated within the sectors of both industry and education. Batory resides in Santa Fe, N.Mex., with his wife, Barbara.

Feb. 28, 2018: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao swears in Ronald L. Batory as Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. From left: Batory, his wife Barbara Batory and Secretary Chao. USDOT photo.

“In my half-century railroading career, largely interacting with Capitol Hill—and much of it on the fringes of decision-making power—I have never encountered a player as a-political as Ron Batory,” comments Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner, author of Amtrak: Past, Present, Future. “It is said in Washington that ‘when around Democrats, one speaks Democrat; when around Republicans, one speaks Republican.’ Batory, by contrast, dispenses with the Democrat and Republican talk, limiting himself to the subject he knows best—railroads.”

“The easy part in an election year is being nominated,” notes Wilner. “The difficult part—assuming that the Senate Commerce Committee holds a prompt hearing on Batory’s qualifications and then recommends him for a floor confirmation vote—is to avoid a “hold” on that nomination by any of the 100 Senators. Batory faces a risk of a Democratic hold given that many in rail labor are unhappy with his having withdrawn a crew-consist rule in 2019 when he was FRA Administrator. And he faces a risk of a Republican hold—notwithstanding he was a Trump Administration nominee to the FRA—owing to a tradition that, late in Presidential terms, position vacancies be held open for the next President to fill.

“Many think Batory took a pro-labor position in withdrawing the crew-size rule, believing crew consist—as it always has been—should be collectively bargained. Batory grew up in a union household. His father, Lou, was elected officer with Transportation Communications Union predecessor Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks. In 2005, when Batory was President and COO of Conrail Shared Assets, then-United Transportation Union President Paul Thompson, who had long interacted with Batory, greeted him at a meeting, saying, ‘You could put us [unions] out of business.’ When a railroad president says, If it’s wrong, we’ll fix it, there isn’t too much need for a union.’ Batory responded, ‘Good union officers help ensure efficient operations.’

“It is not known if a Republican Administration would nominate Batory for the Amtrak Board if Biden is not re-elected in November. And if Biden wins re-election, he can always make a new nomination of Batory when a new Senate convenes in early 2025. Notably, Amtrak Board Member Chris Koos, the mayor of Normal, Ill., waited four years to be confirmed following three separate nominations—one by Trump and two by Biden. Koos, although from the Midwest, was jammed up over concern by numerous Senators that the Amtrak Board consisted of too many members from Northeast Corridor states.

“Amtrak’s statute provides for two Board members from a state on the Northeast Corridor; two members outside the NEC in a state served by a long-distance route; two members outside the NEC in a state with a state-supported route; and two members from a state with any type of Amtrak service. The statute also provides that Board members serve five-year terms and may remain, at the expiration of the term, until a successor is Senate-confirmed.”

President Biden will also nominate Valley Regional Transit CEO Elaine M. Clegg to the Amtrak Board.