Friday, June 30, 2000 (Washington, DC)

Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene M. Molitoris today announced that Mark E. Yachmetz will serve as Associate Administrator for Railroad Development in the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). This appointment is effective immediately.

"The Office of Railroad Development has the responsibility for successfully implementing programs that have a historic opportunity to positively impact this nation’s transportation system for the 21st Century," said Administrator Molitoris. "Consequently, we needed a proven leader to manage these extremely important programs. Mark is the person for this job, having demonstrated his ability to achieve challenging program goals through the development of partnerships both inside and outside the federal government of the type that will be important to FRA’s continued success."

Yachmetz assumes responsibility for the Federal Government’s rail investment and technology development programs. He will serve as the liaison with Amtrak’s management in support of the Administrator as the Secretary of Transportation’s representative on both the Amtrak Board of Directors and the Amtrak Reform Council. His duties include oversight of the Northeast Corridor Improvement Program which is bringing high-speed passenger service in the Washington --New York City-- Boston corridor, providing financial assistance to the freight rail industry including the $3.5 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Financing Program; FRA’s Research and Development Program; and the Next Generation High-Speed Rail Program of high-speed passenger technology development (including Maglev).

Yachmetz is currently Director of FRA’s Office of Passenger Programs and has been instrumental in forging a more effective working relationship between Amtrak and the Department at the corporate level while overseeing the infrastructure improvements between New Haven and Boston necessary to permit operation of high-speed electric operations. He has also played an important role in forging a public/private partnership to develop a high-speed non-electric locomotive that will introduce high-speed service in other regions of the country.

Yachmetz is a Civil Engineering graduate of the University of Maryland, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board Committee on Guided Ground Transportation, the Department of Transportation’s Senior Leadership Conference and the Florida Farm Bureau. He lives in Alexandria, VA., with his wife Cindy Douglass.