CHICAGO (AP) – Metra’s board of directors has picked a veteran railroader to lead the Chicago commuter rail agency.
Interim CEO Don Orseno, a former chief of operations and a train engineer earlier in his career, on Friday was named chief executive officer at $262,000 a year.
Orseno’s appointment comes in the wake of riders complaining about delays and cancellations during January, and a recent report the agency’s police department is functioning improperly.
Orseno’s predecessor, Alex Clifford, says he forced out of the job after a little over two years because he didn’t go along with patronage requests. Clifford’s predecessor, Phil Pagano, committed suicide in 2010 during an investigation into his defrauding the agency $475,000.
Noting both his father and grandfather were railroad men, Orseno says getting the job means he’s “living my dream.”
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