The Virginia Railway Express (VRE), a commuter rail service connecting Central and Northern Virginia with the District of Columbia, recently appointed Chris Henry as chief operations officer, effective March 14.
Henry has more than 40 years of customer support and multisite operations management experience and previously served as VRE director of rail operations, a position he held since 2010.
In his new role, Henry will serve as liaison across departments and agencies to plan and activate service adjustments for capital projects and will implement service increases after the projects are completed. Henry also will provide oversight and guidance to the Rail Operations and Mechanical Operations departments, work collaboratively with other senior leadership, and serve as a key strategic partner to VRE CEO Katie Choe.
He will be responsible for ensuring operational readiness to increase service in accordance with the recently adopted System Plan 2050, promoting and ensuring a positive customer experience, and the delivery of safe and reliable commuter service for passengers and stakeholders, day-today rail operations, and mechanical operations.
The role of chief operations officer has been vacated since 2019 when Rich Dalton became CEO, a position he held until October.
VRE is the 13th largest commuter rail service in the United States.