BOSTON — Former Long Island Rail Road President Phillip Eng will become the new general manager of the problem-plagued Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced Eng’s selection in a statement today, saying Eng “is the proven leader the MBTA needs to improve safety and reliability across the system and restore the public’s trust. He understands that a functioning transportation system is essential to a functioning economy, and he has a track record of taking the reins of struggling public transit systems and dramatically improving service. He also takes a collaborative approach to his work and maintains open lines of communication with customers, workers, businesses, local officials and communities.”
Eng will begin work April 10.
Eng has almost 40 years of public transportation experience with the New York State Department of Transportation and New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, including time as MTA’s chief operating officer and interim president of New York City Transit, which operates the bus and subway system. He was president of the LIRR from 2018 until his retirement last year, and since then has been a consultant with the LiRo Group, an architectural, engineering, and construction firm.
“It’s time for a new way of doing business at the MBTA,” Eng said in the statement announcing his appointment. “As an engineer, a transportation professional for 40 years, and a commuter myself, I’m laser focused on finding innovative solutions to complex problems and approaching them with a sense of urgency that always puts the customer first. I’m also committed to supporting the hardworking employees who keep the MBTA running and ramping up hiring to ensure that we have the workforce in place to deliver the reliable service that riders deserve.”
Eng will take over an agency that has faced significant safety issues, leading to a series of directives by the Federal Transit Administration last year, and is currently dealing with massive operational issues in its rail transit network. More than a quarter of that network is operating under speed restrictions, reflecting long-term maintenance deferrals, as well as a more recent problem in which the agency was unable to provide documentation of track inspections and repairs.
The agency’s previous general manager, Steve Poftak, departed in January after resigning in November [see “MBTA general manager announces resignation,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 2, 2022]. Jeff Gonneville has been serving as interim general manager.
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