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Robert C. Lauby, P.E., Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety & Chief Safety Officer
Mr. Robert Lauby has 35 years of railroad and rail transit experience involving safety, security, accident investigation, project management, project engineering, manufacturing, and vehicle maintenance. His current position is Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety/Chief Safety Officer with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). In this role, he provides regulatory oversight for rail safety in the United States and oversees the development and enforcement of safety regulations and programs related to the rail industry.
Prior to his promotion to Associate Administrator in September 2013, he served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulatory and Legislative Operations. In that role, Mr. Lauby was responsible for FRA’s safety rulemaking activities, including oversight of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC). He also served as Chairman of the FRA Safety Board that makes determinations on petitions for waivers from FRA regulations. In addition, he served as the program manager for the technical portion of FRA’s high-speed rail safety program.
Prior to that, Mr. Lauby served as Staff Director of the FRA Passenger Rail Division, which was established in 2009 within the FRA Office of Railroad Safety to address passenger rail issues. Mr. Lauby’s primary responsibilities were to develop and implement passenger rail safety programs and initiatives and coordinate and maintain FRA safety policies, regulations, and guidance for all safety matters related to commuter rail, intercity rail, and high-speed rail.
Before joining FRA in October 2005, Mr. Lauby was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton, where he performed safety and security work for the Federal Government and the railway and transit industry. During his tenure at Booz Allen, Mr. Lauby was assigned lead investigator by the Special Commission of Inquiry in the 2003 Waterfall, New South Wales, accident near Sydney, Australia. He was later assigned to lead recovery efforts to modify and reopen the Las Vegas Monorail.
Prior to joining Booz Allen, Mr. Lauby served as the Director of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Office of Railroad Safety, where he managed hundreds of railroad and rail transit accident investigations. He led the U.S. fact-finding contingent to the 1998 Eschede, Germany, Inter-City Express (ICE) accident investigation and represented the National Transportation Safety Board on the RSAC and the American Public Transportation Association’s (formerly American Public Transit Association) Passenger Rail Equipment Safety Standards Committee.
Mr. Lauby also served as a project manager for Knorr Brake Corporation, a major railcar brake manufacturer, on numerous light rail vehicle, new car procurements and as a maintenance supervisor at a Conrail locomotive running repair shop.
He has testified numerous times before Congressional and Senate subcommittees on railroad safety and is a licensed professional engineer.