NEW YORK CITY — The Journal News reports that Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut plans to step down from his post at the end of the month. He will be replaced by Joe Giulietti, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates Tri-Rail.

Transit advocates and other observers said it was no surprise that Permut would leave the position after a trouble-plagued year that included the Dec. 1 derailment in the Bronx that killed four people, according to the Journal report. For the full story, click here.

(SFRTA release on Joseph Giulietti's appointment)

Joseph “Joe” Giulietti, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), is leaving the agency to assume the position of President of Metro-North, New York’s commuter rail system.  The date of his departure will be determined at the meeting of the SFRTA Governing Board on January 24, 2014.

“Joe has done a great job for us — won accolades and awards for the agency — and we’re sad to lose him,” said Commissioner Steven L. Abrams, Chair of the SFRTA. He praised Mr. Giulietti for double-tracking the entire system on time and on budget and for making its rapid growth in ridership possible. “His experience has been critical to our ability to navigate a lot of difficult issues connected to our expansion.”

Giulietti brings more than 40 years of railroad experience to his new position, rising from being a brakeman with the Penn Central Railroad to being the head of Florida’s only commuter rail system. He relocated from Connecticut in 1998 to become deputy executive director of Tri-Rail and was named executive director in 2000.

Under his leadership, the Tri-County Commuter Rail System was transitioned into the SFRTA. The Double Track Corridor Improvement Program, completed in 2006, enabled Tri-Rail to expand service to the operation of 50 trains a day on weekdays and 30 trains a day on weekends. Ridership increased by double digits. In 2006, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) named Tri-Rail the fastest-growing commuter rail system in the nation. In 2013, Tri-Rail experienced the highest ridership in its 25-year history, 4,350,782 passengers.

He began his railroad career in 1971 as a brakeman/assistant conductor for Penn Central Railroad. In 1978, he assumed his first management position, road foreman for Con Rail. He joined Metro-North Commuter Railroad in 1983 and held a series of increasingly responsible management and senior management positions, culminating with his appointment as the director of Organizational Staffing Review Projects in 1993.

Giulietti holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Southern Connecticut State University. He was president of the 44th Urban Mass Transportation Seminar and was a trained facilitator at Rummler Brache Performance Management. In 2007, he was named the recipient of the Thomas G. Neusom Award, the highest honor given by the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials. He serves on the Executive Committee of the APTA.