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Federal Railroad Administrator Szabo to step down
Sabazo picked one hell of a time to resign from his position as Federal Railroad Administrator. The Republican Party’s takeover of Capitol Hill will make his replacement a political nightmare, given their hostility towards freight and passenger rail expansion and towards HSR. Sabazo’s railroad career gives him the perspective that no Republican friendly bureaucrat has. We need a railroader in charge of the FRA, not some a corporate executive or government bureaucrat that will appease Republican interests that was appointed for political ease in the face of adversity. We need the experience of a career railroader at the FRA helm more than ever as railroads struggle to cope with overwhelming demand for their services, and the loss of much of the midwestern winter to the Polar Vortex.
I am glad the opportunity became available for Szabo to be able to go home to take care of his father. That shows his personal priorities are in the right place. Contrary to the opinion of others, FRA will continue to function even though Szabo is no longer Administrator.
I personally think Szabo was not a good administrator. He has been on the sidelines while the Amtrak organization and operation deteriorated. Szabo supported giving stimulus money to Illinois and California rather than Amtrak to procure new passenger locomotives and cars. It’s no wonder he wouldn’t consider becoming Amtrak’s president.
As for being a “mustang”, my understanding of Szabo’s bio is that he was a switchman who rose in the ranks of rail labor organizations and also became a local politician in “Chicagoland.” He was a political appointee of President Obama and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, also politicians from Chicagoland. Hardly the career of a mustang. If you want to know what a railroad mustang is, look at the bios of Dick Davidson and Mike Haverty; both started as switchmen and retired as CEOs.
How are Republicans hostile to freight rail expansion? If anything, it’s the Democrats who would stifle railroad expansion by reregulation. I agree that Republicans generally are hostile to passenger expansion. Even so, there are many individual Democrats and Republicans that are exceptions to these generalizations.