Ronald Batory, Administrator

Nominated by President Donald J. Trump on July 10, 2017, and confirmed by the United States Senate on February 13, 2018, Ronald Batory is the fourteenth Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Mr. Batory is a widely respected and highly regarded railroad industry professional with more than 45 years of experience serving in numerous operational, administrative and managerial positions. 

Mr. Batory began his railroad career in 1971 working as a traveling Freight Car Accounting Auditor for the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton (DT&I) Railroad. He subsequently served in a series of positions with progressively greater responsibility before joining the Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW) in 1981 when it acquired the DT&I. In 1987, Batory became Vice President- General Manager of the Chicago, Missouri and Western Railway, and then in 1989 went to work for the Southern Pacific Transportation Company. During his regional leadership tenure at Southern Pacific, he fostered joint labor and management efforts focused on casualty prevention, service consistency and cost containment, resulting in significantly improved operational performance.

In 1994, Batory was named President of the Belt Railway Company of Chicago (BRC), the largest switching terminal in the U.S. and a vitally important linchpin in the nation’s rail hub, jointly owned at the time by nine Class 1 railroads. His success in serving the needs of multiple competing railroads at the BRC prompted CSX and Norfolk Southern Corporation to recruit him in 1998 to manage the partitioning of Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) as part of a merger approved by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. In 2004, Batory became President & Chief Operating Officer of Conrail, the eighth largest freight railroad in America, until his retirement in April 2017.

Mr. Batory earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971 from Adrian College in Michigan, and a Master of Arts degree in 1975 from Eastern Michigan University. Mr. Batory is a native of Detroit, Michigan and resides with his wife Barbara, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.