Richard J. Palmieri joined Veolia Transportation as VP of business development for rail, reporting to Ron Hartman, CEO of Veolia Transportation's rail division. Palmieri will also serve on the company's Rail Management Committee.

"Rich brings a dynamic mix of technical expertise, business savvy, integrity, and a history of responsiveness to customer needs," Hartman said.

Prior to his position with Veolia, Palmieri worked with Siemens Infrastructure & Cities as director of business development. He was responsible for sales and account management focused on transit and freight rail customers within the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, including high-speed trains, light rail and streetcar services.

Palmieri began his career in transportation design in 1988 at JHK & Associates in New York, as a project manager responsible for technical engineering project management services. Later, he joined Parsons Brinckerhoff Tudor-Turner in Atlanta, where he helped fast-track Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority development to coincide with the start of the 1996 Summer Olympics.

He moved on to become associate VP at TransCore Consulting, and senior project manager for BellSouth in Atlanta before joining Siemens VDO Automotive in 2003 as manager of project management, where he oversaw large-scale projects with contract values in excess of $5 million.

He is actively involved in national rail transportation policy development and advocacy. He serves on the APTA streetcar and light rail committee and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Transportation Policy Subcommittee, and is a frequent speaker on panels discussing rail technology.

Palmieri holds a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering degree from Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y. He will be based in Atlanta.