CSX has named Mike Cory, CN’s former chief operating officer, as its new COO, according to a Friday announcement from the Eastern U.S. Class I railroad.
Cory, who has more than 40 years of operational experience, joined CN in 1981 as a laborer working in the Canadian railroad’s Winnipeg, Manitoba, locomotive shop and held various positions of increasing responsibility in both operations and sales and marketing before becoming COO in 2016.
Prior to becoming COO, other leadership roles at CN included vice president of network operations, senior vice president of the Eastern region and senior vice president for the Western region. Cory retired from CN in 2019 and then worked as a consultant before becoming president of Pacific National, Australia’s largest private railroad, in 2021.
At CSX (NASDAQ: CSX), Cory will work with the operations team, including Ricky Johnson, senior vice president of operations, and Casey Albright, senior vice president of network operations and service design. Johnson and Albright have been overseeing operations following former CSX COO Jamie Boychuk’s departure in August.
“Mike Cory is one of the rail industry’s leading operations executives, respected for his wealth of operations knowledge and his success as a leader who understands the customers we serve and has a deep appreciation for the employees who provide that service,” CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs said in Friday’s announcement. “Mike’s reputation as a career railroader, devoted to process improvement, team building and employee development within the principles of scheduled railroading will help CSX continue to achieve new levels of safety, service and operating efficiency.”
In addition to announcing Cory’s appointment, CSX said it promoted Kevin Boone to chief commercial officer. Boone had been serving as executive vice president of sales and marketing.
“The new title recognizes Boone’s breadth of existing responsibilities across CSX’s broad customer base and growing offering of supply chain solutions,” CSX said.
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