New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Sally Librera, a longtime leader in MTA New York City Transit’s Department of Subways operations, was appointed VP and chief officer for Staten Island Railway. She is the first woman to lead Staten Island Railway.

Librera’s appointment is effective immediately. She was most recently a VP, subway operations support, at NYC Transit, where her responsibilities included key operational support functions, such as financial management, employee safety, administrative operations, workforce development, and planning. She joined the MTA in 2004 as a transportation planner and advanced to leadership positions in logistics and employee development.

At NYC Transit, she led technical training for employees, including training programs for crews in railcar maintenance, service delivery, occupational safety, emergency response, and for technicians in the track, electrical, and infrastructure departments. Her accomplishments at the Department of Subways included enhancing employee safety, streamlining administrative processes, identifying operational efficiencies, and implementing programs for employee development.

Librera’s appointment to the leadership position at Staten Island Railway (SIR) comes as the railway is in the midst of a major rebuilding effort after Superstorm Sandy severely damaged track infrastructure and critical facilities in 2012. SIR is building a new mechanical repair shop to replace the Clifton facility that was flooded during Sandy and upgrading the St. George interlocking to improve service reliability. The new Arthur Kill SIR station opened in January 2017 and became the MTA’s first newly constructed SIR station since the railway was incorporated into the MTA in 1971.

The MTA 2015-2019 Capital Program includes $386 million of investments and improvements to SIR, such as the replacement of the car fleet and three new power substations to increase supply to the line, allowing for service flexibility and reliability. Capital investments also include rolling out countdown clocks at all SIR stations, track replacement, radio system enhancements, and station repairs.