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Rinaldi, has served as acting president of Metro-North since July 2017, and previously was Metro-North’s executive vice president, beginning in 2015.
On Wednesday, Feb. 21 she was officially named president.
She replaces Joe Giulietti who resigned last July after three years leading the railroad. Giulietti became Metro-North’s president in 2014, following railroad troubles that included a Bridgeport derailment in 2013.
Under his watch, the railroad set ridership records in 2016, as the New Haven Line was used by 40.4 million people — a 20,000-rider increase over the previous year, according to the MTA.
Rinaldi served as General Counsel for the MTA between 2003 and 2007 before taking on that role at the Long Island Rail Road, through 2011. In that year, she became Chief of Staff for the MTA, a position she held until 2015.
“Everyone who has had the good fortune of working with Cathy knows she inspires confidence in those around her through a mixture of leadership by example, evenhandedness and commitment to core principles,” said MTA Managing Director Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim. “She never loses sight of concern for customer experience.”
Metro-North Railroad is the second-busiest commuter railroad in the country, providing 86.5 million rides a year between Grand Central Terminal and 123 stations in nine counties in New York and Connecticut. Rinaldi becomes the first woman to serve as president.
"I’m honored and humbled to be offered this position and deeply appreciative of the confidence that Joe and Ronnie have placed in me,” Rinaldi said.
Rinaldi graduated summa cum laude from Yale and earned her law degree from the University of Virginia. She was born in Brooklyn, raised in Huntington, Long Island, and now resides in Westchester County with her husband and son.
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