WMATA names new safety chief

Theresa M. Impastato, a 20-year veteran of rail safety and operations, was selected as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s EVP/chief safety officer, the transit agency announced. She will begin August 12.

Impastato was most recently deputy chief safety officer of Amtrak, where she led the drafting and implementation of the railroad’s first Safety Management System and oversaw Federal Railroad Administration safety certification programs for Amtrak’s new high-speed trainsets, rolling stock procurements, and facilities projects. Previously, she was in charge of system safety for NJ Transit’s light rail service between Camden and Trenton, which shares tracks with freight trains. Prior to that role, she worked in the private sector as an analyst and systems engineer.

Impastato has served as a rail system safety instructor for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Safety Institute, as well as a member of multiple safety committees for the American Public Transportation Association, the American Association of Railroads, and the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association.