The president of the Long Island Rail Road is retiring after three years on the job.
Rob Free will step down from the head of the nation’s busiest commuter railroad on Nov. 20, MTA chairman Janno Lieber announced Monday.
“Under Rob Free, the Long Island Rail Road has delivered better service, for more riders than ever,” Lieber said in a statement. “He has positioned this agency to continue delivering fast, frequent, and reliable service for years to come. His extraordinary record of service is a model to everyone who wears the LIRR uniform.”
Free, a Long Island native who began his career as a station cleaner for the LIRR at Jamaica Station, is a 34-year veteran of the railroad.
He was appointed to the LIRR’s top spot in 2023, following the tenure of interim railroad president Cathy Rinaldi.
Free led the railroad to post-pandemic ridership records and took steps to reduce service backups at the LIRR’s Jamaica junction.
In announcing his departure Monday, the MTA credited him with the railroad’s highest on-time performance numbers in a decade.
Free advocated for the railroad during Amtrak’s ongoing overhaul of the East River Tunnel, and oversaw much of the expansion of LIRR service into Grand Central Madison.
He also led the railroad during its first strike in over three decades, when some 3,500 workers walked off the job for three days in May over wage negotiations.
In a statement, an MTA spokesperson said the agency will be conducting a nationwide search for Free’s successor.